


Tony Starks’ Sister

by wordjunket



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Avengers Tower, Gen, Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Iron Man 1, Iron Man 2, M/M, Post-Avengers (2012), Pre-Avengers (2012), Pre-Iron Man 3, Stark Siblings - Freeform, Tony & Darcy Stark, Tony Angst, Tony Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-11
Updated: 2016-09-14
Packaged: 2018-04-25 21:34:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 64,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4977322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordjunket/pseuds/wordjunket
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony Stark was eight years old when his sister, Darcy, was born. Thus begins his life as a big brother as he tries to protect his sister from the world while he grows into the man who will become Iron Man.<br/>Years later, as if it wasn’t difficult enough to live in a tower full of superheroes, but now his sister's announced she’s moving in?<br/>Tony’s going to need a lot more than some special cake to get through this one...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. At Childhoods' Hour

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my first venture into Nano 2014. It’s taken me almost a year and numerous edits and rewrites to be somewhat happy with this monster.
> 
> So the basic premise is that Darcy Lewis is still the awesome, kickass character she is in the marvel cinematic universe, only this time she’s tempered with growing up with Tony as a brother. Yes, plenty of people will notice that I’ve messed around with timelines in order to make this work, I’m claiming artistic licence here - it totally works to ignore about a decade and a half of time, right? 
> 
> Anyway, this is the first time I’ve written something this long and thought out. I know the start jumps a lot, I wasn’t going to do as many scenes but I just kept getting ideas for them and they were so much fun. 
> 
> So here’s the disclaimer - the character’s aren’t mine, I’d be a lot more well off in life if they were. Also, the photographs of people, they’re not mine and I don’t own them in any way, shape, or form. I don’t have the actual creditors as I literally googles the images - if someone would like to tell me the creditors I’ll happily put their claim here. So, characters and images of people - not mine. At all. 
> 
> Finally, I hope people enjoy this, even if it does get off to a bit of a slow start. As I said, I had a fantastic experience writing it. 
> 
> Kudos to people who get the many references littered throughout this fic to comic, movie and lore surrounding the Marvel universe. If you get the references, post them in the comments as I’d love to see that other people have that awesome ‘ah ha! I get that reference!’ moment :)

**_1991_ **

Maria Stark died on a rainy Saturday afternoon in April.

Tony, her only son, was just eight-years-old.

He wasn’t allowed to be present at the hospital at the time, Tony was at the mansion with Edwin Jarvis, the family butler, when the phone call came. Maria’s death was immediately chalked up to complications during labour. The fact that his mother was pregnant had been something of an abstract concept for the child at the time. He’d been busy with school and had only been kept updated with the progress of the new life growing because Jarvis had deemed it important for him to know.

Tony had seen his mother briefly in passing twice since she and Howard had held the press conference to announce the pregnancy to the world.

It was sad.

Tony _knew_ it was sad that his mother had died. He knew he should be crying and possibly hiding away in his room. But his mother had never been a particularly large presence in his life. It felt more like a family friend of his parents had passed away, someone who was occasionally over for dinners and would pat him on the head for a job well done absentmindedly.

He had thought, maybe, that his father would be prompted to comfort him. But Tony only saw him as he was on his way out the door two days later, the late edition of the New York Times that had broken the news still sitting on the small entry way table, a photograph of his mother in pride of place on the cover.

“Jarvis, I’ll be gone for the rest of the week, see to it that the wet nurse settles into her new room and that the child is looked after.” Tony watched as Howard Stark instructed Jarvis as he finished wrapping a scarf around his throat and took his hat from the butler before placing it upon his head and then sweeping out the door. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t spare a glance at Tony’s semi hidden form in the shadows of the grand staircase. He wasn’t sure if his father hadn’t seen him, or he’d just ignored him like usual.

“Of course, Sir.” Jarvis said quietly, English accent thick in his voice.

The door shut and Tony stayed still as Jarvis turned, a small smile lifting the corners of his lips upon sighting his young charge. In a move too casual to not have been planned, Jarvis picked up the newspaper from the small table and deposited it atop the hanging closet, a spot Tony would have difficulty in reaching it if he attempted to retrieve it. Tony wasn’t particularly interested though, it wasn’t like it would say anything he didn’t already know.

“Young Master, shall we go and meet your new sister?” Jarvis offered as he moved towards the grand staircase, a hand extended towards him, beckoning.

“Yes, Jarvis.” Tony said dutifully. He didn’t really want to see her all that much, but he knew that Jarvis wanted him to want to. Ever since the announcement had occurred, the butler had been terribly excited about the newest edition to the Stark family. Tony didn’t really understand what the big deal was. Just another person he would rarely see in the huge mansion he called home.

The pleased smile Jarvis gave him, however, made his own lips turn up in response.

Jarvis led him from the entrance room and up the stairs with a gentle hand upon his shoulder. They walked through the empty house that reminded Tony of the museum Jarvis had taken him to the previous Summer. Walking along the quiet hallways, they were almost to Tony’s own room when worry filled his stomach.

“Jarvis?” Tony asked tentatively. Surely his father hadn’t given Tony’s room to his new sister, had he?

“Your sister has been placed in the room beside your own.”

Tony blinked, relaxing slightly.

Oh. That was different. Tony’d never had anyone staying in the rooms near his own in the mansion before. Any time they had guests, Tony was present for appearances sake and then ushered off to his room for the rest of the night, kept out of the way of important business. His father always said he would be nothing but a distraction if he were to stay. So much to the point that he was sectioned off in his own wing of the mansion so as not to accidentally cross paths with all the important people in his fathers social circle.

Stopping before the door to the room right next to his own, Jarvis removed his hand from Tony's shoulder and gestured to the door encouragingly.

Slowly turning the knob and pushing open the heavy wood, Tony cautiously entered the room. It was white walled like all the other disused rooms, all the furniture white as well, but the large double bed usually in the middle of the room was missing. In its place was a fancy looking cot. Moving over to the cot, he leaned up on tiptoe as to see over the railing. Unsurprisingly, there was a baby within, dressed in white with a white cap, eyes closed in sleep, pink chubby cheeks standing out as the only splash of colour.

“Her name is Darcy Maria Lewis Stark.” Jarvis said softly from behind him, having followed at a more sedate pace as Tony had made his way into the room.

“Jarvis,” Tony began quietly, looking up at the man with a small frown on his face. “Do I _have_ to have a sister?”

Jarvis crouched down so that they were eye to eye, hands resting on the boys shoulders, a serious look on his old face.

“Anthony,” he began, Tony knowing instantly that whatever the man was about to say was of the utmost importance, as he only ever called Tony by his full name in such situations.

“Darcy is your sister. You’ve just lost your mother and now only have your father to rely on. She’s going to need you to take care of her. She will be your responsibility to protect.”

“Yes, Jarvis.” Tony committed the words to memory, assuring himself that this was something he would not forget. He would not let Jarvis down.

“Think on it,” Jarvis continued in a lighter tone. “You now have someone who will actively seek you out for love and attention. When she is a little older, you will then be able to look after one another.”

“Will she…” His voice was soft, almost a whisper as he licked his lips before forcing the words out. “Will she want to play with me?”

The hands on his shoulders squeezed once more.

“You will be her best friend.”

Tony felt his heart swell at those words. He’d never had a best friend before. In fact, he’d never really had a friend. Sure, there was Jarvis, but while the man always made time to speak with him and was happy to listen about his newest projects, he was also there to do a job and had many chores and things to oversee on a daily basis. There were the kids at his school, as well, but they always seemed to be more interested in knowing him only after they found out he was a Stark.

Having someone his own age, or close enough to it, would be… amazing.

Turning back to the baby - to Darcy, his sister - Tony stared down at her silently. Reaching out, he grabbed the railing with one hand and slipped his other through one of the railing gaps. Slowly extending it, he paused with his fingers mere inches from the baby’s face, waiting with baited breath to be told not to touch, not to disturb, that he wasn't allowed.

But the words never came.

He was… _allowed_ , this?

Gently, as if she was a delicate piece of glass or a fragile part of circuitry, Tony ran a finger down a chubby cheek, the softness warm beneath his finger tip.

A grin pulled at his lips and, looking up at Jarvis, Tony tightened his hold on the railing in order to contain the flow of excitement that suddenly swept through him. Jarvis smiled down at him, resting a hand briefly on top of his head, approval in his eyes.

Tony turned back to Darcy. Gently stroking the baby’s cheek, he wondered when she would wake up so that she could meet him properly.

He had a little sister.

“Come, Young Master, I have some of your favourite chocolate cake waiting in the kitchen for you.” Jarvis said gently.

“But,” Tony glanced between Jarvis and his sister.

“She will still be here when you are done, I assure you.” He sounded amused.

Tony nodded, reluctant, but he did love Jarvis’ Super Secret Ingredient Chocolate Cake and Darcy would, as the butler said, be there when he was finished.

Stepping back, Tony took one last look at his peaceful sister before leaving the room. Mind already racing with ideas about what kinds of games they could play together.

**_1993_ **

Summer was almost over and Tony was anticipating the start of his first year of high school in the fall. The middle school work he had been doing was easy to pick up on, but maybe high school would present something of a challenge for him. The kids in high school were older too, so maybe, if he was extremely lucky, they might just leave him alone while he was there. Not like in middle school. Those kids had made it a point every day to remind Tony that he was too young to be there. That he wasn’t welcome.

The weather was already beginning to chill as September approached and Tony found himself in the unusual situation of sitting in a hard-backed chair in the drawing room of Stark mansion; a textbook open on his lap as he silently read while his father stood before the open fireplace, a glass of brandy reflecting in the flames. The only sounds in the room came from the cracking of the fire, the clink of ice against glass and the steady tick-tick-tick from the ornate clock on the mantle.

The stillness was broken by the sudden opening of the door, a sniffling sound greeting Tony’s ears as he turned to see his sisters’ small form slipping inside. Her long brown hair tumbled down her shoulders in a mess, a clear sign that she had been playing recently, her pale blue dress was horribly creased and her big green eyes were shinning with tears.

“Fath’e?” She called out, cheeks wet and pink, hands still clutching at the door handle as if that was all that held her upright.

“Where’s your nanny, girl?” Howard demanded, body half angled towards her and a deep frown on his face already.

“I-I losted hew.” She sniffed loudly, causing Tony to wince slightly as his eyes flickered to their father, knowing how such a noise would grate on his nerves.

“Well go and find her.” He snapped, dismissive as he turned back to brooding before the flames.

“B-b-but, my knee…”

“Stop snivelling, child! Get out of my sight!” His voice rose to a yell, body language aggressive as the glass in his hand flew into the heat of the fire, causing the flames to momentarily flare.

Tony was up and off the couch before he was even consciously aware of what he was doing, half of it an automatic reaction to the familiarly yelled words and half an instinctive need to protect his sister. A quick glance at his father revealed Howard clearly about to launch into a long, loud, and aggressive tirade about inconsiderate children interrupting him.

Tony went quickly to Darcy, pulling her from the room and moving down the hallway as fast as her smaller legs could go. Just incase their father decided to give chase.

He didn’t stop until they had reached his own bedroom and he was able to put a shut door between them and the world, the only real measure of safety in such a home. He paused for a moment, listening and holding his breath, but there was silence from the hallway, meaning their father hadn’t been interested enough in teaching them a lesson to follow. No doubt, Howard would spend the rest of the night holed up with the remainder of the brandy bottle as he ranted and raved to an empty room about the irresponsibility and disrespect of youth these days.

“Okay.” Tony sighed, before looking down at Darcy, her head bowed as she openly cried, silent but for the occasional sniffle.

“Darcy, you know you’re not to wander about the house without an adult supervising.” He said softly, hands resting on her shoulders and a concerned frown on his face.

What would he do if she acted like this when Tony wasn’t there to protect her?

“My knee,” she whispered, hands wiping at her face and coming away shinny with snot and tears.

Confused, Tony looked down, but the hem of her dress hid the majority of her legs. Kneeling on the floor, he pulled her dress up enough to see that he right knee was bright pink, a single red line stretched diagonally over the cap, a tiny bead of blood having welled up on the surface.

“Oh, Darcy, what happened?” He looked up at her with worry.

“I lost Miss Mac an’ I wen’ w’ound a co’new too fast an’ the wug slipped’d. I didn’t mean too!” Similar to that of floodgates opening, loud chocking sobs erupted from her small frame, her body shaking with the force of them.

“Darcy,” he reached out and hugged her, pulling her to his chest and encircling her with his arms. He could feel her small fists grab onto his shirt and her face pushed against his neck; hot, fast gasps of breath hitting his throat.

“I-I’m sowwy!”

“It’s okay, Darcy. It was an accident, it wasn’t your fault.” He repeated the comforting words Jarvis often said to him and allowed her to cry until there was nothing left.

When she’d finally calmed down enough that there was only the occasional hiccupped sob, Tony pulled back slightly, hands pushing the hair from her face awkwardly.

“It’s okay, Darc. I will always protect you. I’ll always be here. Pinky promise.” He held out his little finger to her, having seen the kids at school do this when promising their friends that they would keep their secrets.

“What’s a pinky pwomise?” She stared at his hand in confusion.

“It’s what people do to make unbreakable promises. It means I can’t break this promise, and I’ll never want to.” Tony said, as much conviction in his eleven-year-old voice as he could manage.

He waited patiently while she attempted to mimic the shape of his hand, succeeding more in sticking all but her pointer finger out. Tony obligingly linked his pinky with hers anyway, giving them a brief bop in the air before releasing them. She nodded as if she understood the seriousness of the moment, before her hand moved to her mouth and a thumb slipped between her lips. Tony knew the nanny was trying to break her of the habit, their father having deemed it unacceptable behaviour of a Stark, but Tony couldn’t bring himself to tell her off for it when she’d just been so upset.

“Come with me, I have something to make you feel loads better.” Tony got to his feet and, taking hold of her hand again, he led her over to his bed. Pulling out the bedside draw, he rummage around for a moment before pulling out two cardboard boxes that he placed on the top of the table. Turning to Darcy, he lifted her onto the bed before grabbing the boxes and holding them up.

“Would you rather Captain America or robots?” He asked, quietly hoping that she chose the robots as he loved his Captain America band aids.

“What’s Captain Amewica?” Darcy asked around her thumb.

Tony blinked in surprise. Considering how much their father went on about the World War II hero, Tony wasn’t sure how Darcy didn’t know who he was.

“He’s the best superhero ever. He fought in World War Two. He can beat any bad guy and he has this awesome shield that he throws so that he can defeat bad guys and protect people. He’s the best.” Tony grinned happily.

Captain America was cool enough to impress even their father, so he had to be something extremely special. Tony hoped he could be that amazing one day.

Darcy stared at him for a moment before glancing between the two boxes once more.

“I wan’t wobots.” She decided, much to Tony’s relief.

Replacing the Captain America box, he pulled open the robots one and selected on of the larger band aids. Dropping the box, he carefully peeled off the backing and stuck it over her scrapped knee, making sure that the white spongy bit covered the scrap like Jarvis had taught him.

“There,” he paused for a moment, mentally going over the steps Jarvis took when applying Tony’s own band aids, before leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to the band aid.

“All better now.” He promised her, grinning as she stared at him.

“Funny lookin’.” She said, pulling out her thumb in order to reach down to touch the edge of the band aid.

“I guess… I can ask Jarvis to get you some with princesses or ballerinas on them next time? You like them, don’t you?” Tony asked, uncertain. Darcy was always changing her mind as to whether or not she liked things so it could be hard to keep up with her favourite things from week to week.

“I like aliens.” She said simply, before offering him a large, toothy grin, cheeks still wet but the look on her face as if nothing had ever happened. Tony was startled into laughter.

“I’ll ask him to get ones with aliens on them next time. Big green ones with only one eye and lots of arms.” Tony threw his arms into the air to demonstrate, chest swelling with happiness when she giggled and clapped her hands together with delight.

“Now, let me tell you all about Captain America. He’s the absolute coolest ever. I wanna be just like him when I grow up.”

**_1994_ **

High school wasn’t all that hard, Tony reflected to himself as he jotted down the answer to the excellerated curriculum mathematics work he had been given for over the Summer. It wasn’t like he really needed to do this stuff anyway, it was all so easy. He’d much rather be working on building a robot or furthering his code writing ability. But Jarvis had caught him when he’d been helping Darcy with her breakfast that morning and told him, in no uncertain terms, that he wasn’t allowed anywhere near a socket wrench or a keyboard until every piece of his summer schoolwork was done and proof had been shown to the butler.

Tony had tried to argue that it was only the first week of summer, that no one did any kind of school work until at least a month had passed, but Jarvis hadn’t bought it. It hadn’t helped that Darcy had started getting upset because she was forced into classes with private tutors five days a week, irrespective of if it was technically the holidays or not.

So, Tony had retreated to his room and sat down at the large mahogany desk that was normally covered with bits and pieces of metal and electrical wires, the clean table top evidence of Jarvis having cleaned up while Tony had been away. Really, it was code for: ‘Jarvis put everything on the desk into a box and will withhold its location until Tony does what the man wants him to’.

Spoilsport.

At least this work wouldn’t take him very long, and it was lunch time soon so he was guaranteed a break from the tedious work. After lunch, he might even be able to convince Jarvis to let him have the rest of the day off and finish his Summer schoolwork tomorrow. Tony knew he wouldn’t be able to bargain for building anything, the man wouldn’t be that easily swayed, but he could probably get Darcy from her half-day lessons and together they could go outside and play in the large area just off the back of the conservatory. Darcy loved her imaginary games and Tony had specifically read Alice in Wonderland five times over the school term to be sure that he had it memorised. He just knew she would adore the characters and he even he couldn’t sit through another 'Adventure with Captain America' or tea party with all the stuffed toys in the house.

“Tony?”

 _Speak, and she shall appear_.

Turning to the door to his room, he saw his sister peeking in, dark hair messy despite the glittery clips trying to keep it in place and her shirt untucked from her skirt. Somewhere between breakfast and now she’d managed to loose her shoes as well, and only pale pinks socks with frilly lace tops adorned her feet.

“Is it lunch time?” He asked, happily dropping his pencil on the table top and turning away from his desk.

“Yep,” she suddenly grinned, running from his door over to where he sat as if it were a race she was determined to win, a piece of paper clutched in one of her hands that she was quick to thrust into his chest.

“Look!”

Laughing slightly, he took the paper and turned it over so that he could see what she had done. In shaky, childish block letters, she had written both her name and his, followed by their last name. Seeing that she had put the ’S’ backwards only served to charm him further.

“Oh, wow.” He grinned at her, looking from the paper to her big, waiting, green eyes.

“This is amazing, Darcy. Did you do it all by yourself?” He asked, her face breaking out into an even larger grin, something he hadn’t thought possible.

“Uh huh. Miss Mac has been teachin’ me words this week. I wanted to show you. See, that’s your name and this one’s mine. We both have the same last name here, cos we’re brother ‘nd sister.” She pointed out, giving the paper Tony still held a poke as she explained.

“Miss Mac said that father has the same name as us too, and that - that mama did too.” Tony looked at her in surprise. Darcy rarely mentioned their mother, in fact, Tony was fairly certain that she’d never spoken of the woman to him at all. She may have asked others, but never when Tony was around.

“Did she?” Darcy asked, looking him in the eye, smile faded and something soft, almost secretive, in her voice.

“Yeah,” Tony said quietly, pulling up a small smile. “Her first name was Maria, like your middle name. So her name was Maria Stark.” Darcy nodded slightly, looking down for a moment before she seemed to gather herself and look back up at him with determination.

“What was mama like?”

Even at twelve, Tony was rarely lost for words, a fact that had gotten him into trouble more often than not. However, it seemed that his four-year-old sister could stump him with just one simple question. He had honestly never thought about her asking such a thing from him, though he supposed it did seem logical in hindsight. But, what was he meant to say to her? He couldn’t tell her that their mother had been a distant woman, employing an opinion about her child only when it was deemed socially appropriate. Tony had very few memories of her, to be honest, and most of it was via a third party such a newspapers or gossip. She was just this distant image of a woman who had given birth to him, someone he had always seen from far away with a very thick, indestructible glass wall between them.

He couldn’t tell his sweet, innocent, baby sister that the only times he could remember their mother touching him was a tossup between when they’d been at a press conference for Howard and she’d placed a hand on his shoulder briefly in a show of support for the camera or that time in the kitchen when she’d pulled him from the room when Howard and Uncle Obie had been arguing about work and recreational financial commitments.

He just… couldn’t.

“Jasmine.” He found himself saying, looking slightly over Darcy’s head, unable to lie to her face but unwilling to stop his tongue when it started. “She smelled like jasmine, I think it was something to do with her perfume?” A lie. Maria Stark had favoured whatever was most popular at the time. Tony could distinctly remember the orange coconut fragrance of that year and, whenever a woman passed him by smelling of Escada he could almost swear she was still there. “And she, she smiled a lot. A nice smile, like the ones you see mom’s on TV give their kids.” He glanced at Darcy, slightly taken aback at the undivided attention he was receiving, little hands clutching excitedly at the armrest of the chair.

“What else?” She asked, wonder in her voice.

“Um,” he cast his mind about in a panic, desperately trying to think of other things he’d wished their mother had done, how he’d wished she'd been. “Alice in Wonderland. It’s a book, it was her favourite. She always used to read and re-read it. I was - that is - I thought you might like it if I read it to you this Summer.”

The smile on her face at his words made some of the guilt at lying to her abate.

“Yes, please.” She said quietly.

Tony nodded, mind looking for a distraction when his eyes landed once more on Darcy's paper.

“This is really good.” He shook the paper slightly, smile returning to his face at the truth of his words. “I’m so proud of you.” He pulled her into his arms and squeezed her tight, causing her to erupt into giggles and thus breaking the heavy atmosphere that had been weighing down the room.

“Come on, Darc. Let’s go and get some lunch.” He stood up, holding out his hand for her.

The feel of her small hand slipping trustingly into his own made something in his chest tighten and then release.

Even if Maria Stark hadn’t been much of a mother while she was alive, Tony was going to make damn sure that she was the most amazing mother in the world in death.

Darcy deserved that much, at least.

**_1996_ **

Tony was pulled away from the loud sounds of AC/DC on his CD player by the noise of his phone ringing obnoxiously. Leaning back from where he had been tightening a bolt, he reached over to push the pause button on the player before rolling on his chair to where he had last seen his phone. Hunting under a mixed pile of metal scraps and papers, he found his Nokia 9000 Communicator which he pushed open to answer the call, ears slightly ringing in the deafening silence after his music.

“Hello?”

“Master Tony.”

A grin spread over his face at the familiar sound of a British accented voice coming through the slightly tinny speakers.

“Jarvis!”

“Indeed. How are you?” The family butler asked politely, and Tony felt his heart swell with joy because even if he sounded as polite as an acquaintance, Tony knew without a shadow of a doubt that Jarvis was actually interested in the answer to that question, that it wasn’t just a social formality for him. He actually _cared_.

“I’m well. Uni is… different. I like that it’s a lot more focused on what I’m actually interested in rather them dumbing down the whole spectrum of basic education to try and teach me.” He twirled the wrench in his free hand, lazily swinging the chair from left to right with a single foot on the floor.

“That is good to hear. You have been greatly missed at home.”

“How is Darcy?” Tony asked, sitting forward with both feet planted firmly on the ground, his whole attention focusing on Jarvis’s voice, listening closely for any change in tone or inflection.

When Darcy had realised that Tony was no longer going to ‘school’ but a university, she had thrown the biggest tantrum he’d ever seen her throw. There was a lot of crying and yelling, including the tipping over of a small coffee table, a semi-accident. Tony wasn’t entirely sure why, as he’d been going off to boarding schools all his life while Darcy had stayed at home for schooling. This had never seemed to bother her very much, but something about the fact that university wasn’t strictly a _school_ had set Darcy off and she’d begged him not to go. Thankfully, their father hadn’t been home at the time, he was currently on another one of his month long trips out to sea, searching for a dream.

In the end, it was only after she’d worn herself out and Jarvis had intervened, laying down the law as it was, that she’d given up fighting it and proceeded to sulk for two whole days. After many promises to ring regularly and visit often, she’d finally relented and subjected Tony to a tearful farewell.

“She misses you.” Jarvis said honestly.

“Oh,” Tony frowned. He missed her as well.

“Maybe I should come home this weekend?” He said slowly, half to himself and half to Jarvis. He wasn’t sure if it was too soon to be returning home, even just for a night.

“I am sure she would be delighted. In fact, I know she would very much enjoy such a thing, she has been working hard on a new skill and would like to show it to you.” Jarvis sounded faintly amused now.

“Oh really?” Tony could feel an answering smile quirking his lips as he wondered what new skill Darcy was planning on accomplishing this week. The girl was notorious for trying out new things, working tirelessly at them for a week before either declaring herself to have mastered them or that they were not appropriate skills for her repertoire and moving onto something new.

“Yes, she-” Jarvis broke off and Tony could just make out the sound of a voice in the background before there was a muffled noise.

“Tony?” Darcy asked, voice tinged with curiosity and hope through the phone line.

“Hey, Darcy.” He grinned, unable to help laughing slightly at the excited exclamation of his name in response.

“Hi, Tony! I miss you - lots and lots. I’ve been helping Jarvis in the kitchen.” She explained and he could just picture her almost vibrating with excitement, the phone no doubt being held by both of her hands up to her ear as if that made it easier to be heard.

“Really? What’ve you been making?” He indulged her.

“We’ve been making sweets. Jarvis says I’m real good at it. We made gingerbread men and women as well as a dog, yesterday!”

“That’s pretty cool.” Tony agreed, privately thinking how disgusting gingerbread was and how lucky he was to have missed out from having to taste test it and pretend to like it.

“Uh huh, and guess what!” Her voice suddenly became hushed, or what Tony assumed she believed to be hushed but in reality was still fairly loud.

“Jarvis said that if I’m real good in my studies this week, he’ll teach me how to make his Super Secret Ingredient Chocolate Cake.”

“Oh wow, did you make sure to thank him for teaching you all this stuff?” He asked, thinking that Jarvis was taking something of a gamble with teaching his well meaning, but loose tongued sister the secret ingredient in his Super Secret Ingredient Chocolate Cake.

“Yes, just like you told me to.” She sounded pleased with herself.

“Good girl,” he said softly with a smile.

“So, I was just saying to Jarvis, I might be coming to visit you this weekend.” He said, unable to hear himself finish as excited squealing filled his ear, enough to force him to pull the phone away until she had calmed down slightly.

“We’re going to have so much fun! We can play tea parties or Captain America and I’ll be real good so Jarvis will teach me how to make the Super Secret Ingredient Chocolate Cake cos I know it’s your favouritest one ever. And I can show you the new drawings I did in Miss Macs lessons this week. And- " Tony happily sat and listened as she continued to excitedly babble on about the various things they could do over the weekend, knowing he’d made the right decision in choosing to go home.

**_1997_**

Tony was so excited that he couldn’t stop his leg from bouncing as he sat in the back of one of this fathers’ chauffeured cars that had picked him up from the airport. He absently patted the robot next to him on the seat, his jacket covering it so that there was no way the surprise would be revealed before he was ready. Tony had been slaving away over his newest creation during his spare time for the past month and a half and it was finally ready. Well, he knew he could probably have done some more work on it if he’d had the time, but he hadn’t seen his sister for almost two months now and he was anxious to get home and give her the present.

Originally, he had hoped to have it ready by her seventh birthday, but, with all his university commitments, he hadn’t been able to finish it in time. Still, it was only a little bit late and he just knew that she’d love it. Well, he hoped she’d love it, anyway.

“We have arrived, Sir.” The driver looked back at him in the review mirror as the car rolled to a stop before the large mansion.

Slipping out of the vehicle, Tony made sure that his present was securely concealed, before moving quickly to the front door, unable to hide his grin as it was promptly opened by Jarvis, a small smile of welcome on the butlers' face.

“Welcome back, Master Anthony.”

“It’s nice to be back, Jarvis. Where is she?”

“Young Miss Darcy is in the foyer attempting to convince me that she is, indeed, doing her lesson work.”

“Ah, is she hiding my disc-man under the table again?” Tony grinned, more amused than worried by her behaviour.

“I believe she has it hidden under the couch cushion this time.” Jarvis turned to received the luggage Tony had brought home with him from the driver.

Amused, Tony headed for the foyer.

As Jarvis had said, Darcy was sitting on one of the couches with her lesson work spread out on a low table before her. Even though she was holding a pencil in her hand and resting her chin on the other, Tony was positive that the ear he couldn’t see had a headphone of some kind stuck in it.

Stepping into the room, he cleared his throat loudly, delighted by the way she lit up upon laying eyes on him.

“Tony!” She cried, standing quickly and bumping the table, sending a pile of papers flying onto the floor. At the same time a cord became visible and, just as Tony had known, a small speaker fell onto the cushions as she climbed over the couch to throw her arms around his waist.

“Hey, Cupcake.” He warmly returned the hug with one arm, making sure to keep his present safe with his free hand.

“What’s that?” She asked when she’d pulled back, eyes tracking the jacket wrapped object with excitement.

“This? Oh, just something I made that I thought you might like.” He teased, holding out only long enough to see her turn puppy-dog eyes on him.

“I thought you might like a little company.” He explained, pulling off the jacket he’d been using to cover the present, careful not to snag it on the robot.

Resting in his hand was a smallish sized metal canine. It was still rough looking, with clear signs of welding apparent on its silver metal frame. The eyes were two small cameras and its nose was the only painted thing, shiny black like any healthy dog would have. The jaw had large hinges on it so that it would open and close, the small computer that was hooked up to the four legs, tail and ears to make them move, visible each time it opened its mouth.

It was rough, and not particularly attractive, but Tony was incredibly proud of himself for such an accomplishment. Darcy may not properly understand computers and mathematics like he did, but he was sure she would appreciate the way the robotic dog reacted to outside stimuli - that code had taken him almost a week to perfect, without any bugs leaving the poor thing with its jaw hanging open.

“Wow,” Darcy reached out slowly to the robot, eyes huge with wonder.

“Since I know you really wanted a pet, but we can’t have one, I thought this might be the next best thing.” He bit his lip, nervous all of a sudden.

She took the robotic dog from him, holding it as gently and carefully to her chest as if it were a real puppy and not a puppy sized metal robot. The robotic dog reacted to her touch and its ears moved forward like a dog who perked its ears, tail starting to wag from side to side with the accompanied sound of the machine parts moving.

“Tony,” her voice was full of wonder and amazement as she stared down at her new ‘pet’.

“He’s perfect.” She whispered.

Tony felt himself relax, a mixture of relief and joy filling him as he watched Darcy continue to pet the dogs head.

“Thank you so much!” She looked up at him with a huge grin on her face before darting in for a quick hug, the dog held carefully to the side so that it wouldn’t be crushed between them.

“I’m glad you like it,” he pressed a kiss to her forehead and watched as she pulled back and proceeded to sit on the floor, placing the dog on the ground before her and laughing when its little camera eyes tracked her movement.

*

Darcy spent the rest of the day playing with her new pet - dubbed ‘Sparky’, because there was no way ‘Spike’ suited a dog that ran off electricity, duh, Tony - unwilling to let the robot out of her sight for more than a minute at a time. Even Jarvis had agreed that Sparky was an impressive bit of engineering, once Tony had assured the man that it hadn’t eaten into his study time and that, no, he hadn’t blown off doing extra credit work just to make his sister a present.

Tony was sitting in the lounge room with the insides of a clock radio spilt out over the table before him, Darcy lying on the floor near the fireplace, having fallen asleep with Sparky lying loyally by her side, when Tony was startled out of his train of thought by an unexpected voice.

“What the hell is that?”

Sitting up straight and looking around to the entrance of the room, Tony gritted his teeth at the sight of his father leaning against the door frame in a slightly ruffled suit, the smell of alcohol coming off of him so strong that Tony could smell it all the way across the room.

“It’s a robotic dog.” Tony said, tense as his father approached and bent to pick it up.

Howard turned it over, roughly pulled and shoved at various parts until he turned disapproving eyes on Tony.

“This is pathetic, Anthony. What am I paying for your education for if you insist on wasting time on ridiculous and frivolous activities; especially when they are so poorly executed!” Without warning, Howard threw the robot into one of the walls, effectively waking Darcy from her slumber and making Tony jump to his feet. Heart thumping in his chest, Tony’s eyes flickered from his father to Darcy, body tense and poised to jump forward and protect his sister if he needed to.

“Well? What’ve you got to say for yourself, boy?” Howard snarled, eyes liquor hazy.

“It was a present.” Tony said quietly, body still tense and uncomfortable with how Howard was between him and Darcy.

Howard snorted loudly.

“It was a waste of valuable time. How do you expect to take over Stark Industries one day if you can’t even conduct yourself appropriately now. You’re fifteen, Anthony, the only projects you should be working on are to benefit the company. Time to grow the hell up.” He took a menacing step towards Tony, finger extended in his direction.

“If I catch you wasting my money ever again, especially on something as stupid as _toys_ ,” he shot a nasty look at where Darcy huddled on the floor, the unsaid _especially for your useless sister_  hung in the air. “You’ll be so black and blue you’ll have to work with broken fingers.”

Without another glance the man swept from the room, mutters of what a disappointment Tony was following him as he headed towards his office and, no doubt, the whiskey decanter.

“Tony?” Darcy whispered from where she was curled up into a small ball against the front of one of the seats.

“It’s alright, Darc; it’s going to be okay.” He said, throat clicking as he swallowed, heart still beating hard against his ribs as his mind whirled with all the ways that could have gone so much worse.

“Why was Father angry?” She asked, eyes brimming with tears.

“He wasn’t angry at you, Darc.” Tony said firmly, moving over to her and pulling her into his arms for a tight hug, her own hands clenching in the fabric of his shirt and her breathing fast.

“Come on, it’s time for bed anyway.” He pulled her up and into his arms, leaving the room without glancing towards the broken robot that was making weak noises as its ear was glitching up and down repetitively. Darcy wisely didn’t mention it either.

After tucking her into his own bed, she had insisted and after that scare he didn’t blame her for not wanting to be alone, Tony went back downstairs to the lounge room and over to the toy, picking it up and staring at it with hard eyes.

His father was right, in a way. Tony knew that spending time on a present for Darcy could never be something he considered ‘wasting time’, but it had been stupid to make her a robotic dog. It served no function other than amusement, it held no practical purpose.

Tony poked at the still moving ear, the dogs senses clearly having been severed in the angry throw. It wasn’t very well made, his father was right. It was a lacklustre piece of engineering, not something he should have ever allowed to leave the light of his workshop, certainly not something he should have gifted to someone, even a child who was bound to like anything given to her.

“What the hell was I thinking?” He muttered, staring down at the robot and kicking himself for ever thinking he should be proud of it.

“Are you well, Sir?”

Giving the metal in his hands one last look, frustration and anger filling him, Tony walked towards where Jarvis stood at the entrance to the lounge room, holding out the scrap metal when he was close enough.

“Throw this away, would you, Jarvis?” He asked stiffly looking ahead and making a point of not watching as the older man took the metal from him.

“I thought you had given this to young Miss Darcy?” The butler asked curiously.

“It’s rubbish, Jarvis. I’ll buy Darcy something else, she doesn’t need a scrap metal project that’s not even well done.”

“Sir,” Jarvis trailed off, and Tony just knew from his tone that he was frowning at him, but he refused to be swayed.

“Get rid of it, Jarvis. Please.” The please was softer that the rest of his words, and Tony cursed himself for letting emotions show through so clearly.

“If you insist, Sir.” Jarvis finally said after a moment of silence in which Tony had been half convinced (half hopeful) that Jarvis would refuse the request.

Tony nodded in a tight, jerky fashion, before walking down the hallway, headed for the stairs that lead to his room so that he could loose himself in the bits of scrap metal and computer motherboards that littered his desk. Darcy resting peacefully under his care wouldn’t be enough to lull him into any kind of sleep that night.

**_1998_ **

At sixteen, Tony could say without a single doubt, that the worst day of his life thus far had begun with a phone call to his mobile from Jarvis, who proceeded to inform him that his little sister - his _baby_ sister - had been kidnapped. Tony, himself, had been kidnapped by various people three times already. The first when he had been four and hadn’t really understood the severity of his situation as he’d been given a book of mathematical equations which he’d happily worked through until a nice police officer had happened upon the room he was being kept in and taken him home. He’d even gotten to keep the book of equations which he’d finished the next day under Jarvis’s watchful eye. The second had been a year later, when a boy a few years older than him had encouraged him to leave the school yard with him and Tony, desperate for somebody - _anybody_ \- at school to like him, had gone along willingly. He was shoved into a small backyard shed at the boys house and apparently it had only been because he’d made such a racket banging and yelling at the door to be let out that the neighbours had called the cops, that he’d even been found.

The third time had been just after Darcy was born. People were still talking about his mothers’ death, according to the magazines and tabloids, and Tony had yet to see his father since the day he’d walked out the door after bringing Darcy home. He had been playing with a beautiful handcrafted train set given to him by his Uncle Obie for his birthday, when two men had broken into the mansion and grabbed him right off the floor. Honestly, Tony didn’t remember much after that. Something sharp piercing the skin in the crook of his elbow and a hazy memory of a wooden chair before a lumpy bed. He’d woken up a week later in his own bed and no adults had been particularly forthcoming with information about what had happened in the blank spaces of his memory.

Hearing his sister had been kidnapped, Tony had immediately attempted to contact his father to find out what was being done to get her back.

His father had been unreachable.

Tony had done the next best thing and called his godfather, Obie.

“Tony, my boy, what can I do for you?” The man’s familiar voice was calm as ever, causing Tony’s racing heart to steady slightly.

“What’s my father doing to get Darcy back?” He demanded, steady heart or not, this was still his little sister that was missing.

“Ah,” Obie paused for a moment, seemingly surprised that Tony knew about the kidnapping. “Now, Tony, I’m not sure what you’ve heard about this, but rest assured, we’ll get her back in no time.” Obie assured him, voice sounding just like it did every time the Board of Directors got on Howard’s case about that ridiculous funding that Stark Industries did for exploration in the Arctic Ocean. 

“But what’s he doing, Obie!” Tony snapped, in no mood to be coddled like a child.

“We’re waiting to hear what the kidnappers want, Tony. This isn’t something that can be rushed, as you should be aware.”

That was not an acceptable answer. He knew how slow the process could be, was intimately familiar with the last time when it had taken him nearly a week to be released.

“Have we at least got the police working on possible leads? Do we know who has her? If we work out who has her, surely we can bring up some places that they could be holding her or something.” Tony began rambling, mind whirling away.

“Tony, Tony, Tony. This really isn’t something that you should be too worried about. We’ll find out who has her, see what they want, then get the police on the trail to get her back. This will be all over before you know it.” Obie said, voice completely confident in a positive outcome.

“Obie, please.” Tony felt something fragile and childlike in his chest constrict as he momentarily flashed back to when he was five and he just wanted an adult to pay him some attention, just that tiny bit. It had been Obie who had looked down at him, who had offered a smile and a ruffle of hair as he passed by, Maria and Howard already out the door and too far gone to notice their son standing at the threshold, staring at their retreating backs. Obie had paused for that split second, had looked down at him and smiled. Tony could still feel the phantom pressure of his large hand on his head, how he’d messed up Tony’s hair, how Tony had spent the next week refusing to let Jarvis comb it as he spent hours secretly staring into the mirror, trying in vain to recreate the way his hair had looked after being messed up. How he hadn’t been able to do it, but some little voice in his head had said that it was okay, that it was alright that he couldn’t do it, because Obie would do it again one day.

Obie _saw_ him.

Obie would always notice him and that’s all that really mattered.

“Please, I need you to make my father take this seriously. I need you to get my sister back as fast and as safely as possible.” Tony said quietly, refusing to acknowledge the begging tone in his voice.

The silence down the line lasted long enough for Tony to grow uncomfortable, breath coming slightly more easily despite the tightness to his chest.

Finally, Obie spoke.

“I’ll see what I can do, Tony. But you need to understand that this is a very delicate situation and needs to be handled with the utmost care. If we go after this, guns blazing, your sister could get hurt. And nobody wants that, do they?”

“I understand.” Tony got out, teeth gritted together but a faint glimmer of relief rushing through him. He didn’t like the answer he had been given, but it was better than nothing and right now he had nothing.

Besides, if Tony took ‘handled with the utmost care’ to mean that he rung the police department hosting the investigation and threatened them within an inch of their careers that if they didn’t pick up the pace and find his sister and get her home safe, he’d destroy their credit scores and have them on bimonthly drug busts for the rest of their lives. If Tony took ‘delicate situation’ to mean that, as soon as the police had managed to locate his sister and launch a rescue party, Tony was waiting just outside the police tape and, upon her being released, bundled the eight-year-old into his arms tightly, refusing to allow medical personal to see her for at least ten minutes because he simply _couldn’t_ get his arms to relax enough to let her go. And if Tony spent the rest of the night holding Darcy in his arms, back in her own bed at the mansion, phone pressed to his ear as he _demanded_ Obie convince his father to have Darcy’s last name changed to ‘Lewis’ on all forms of public, nonessential identification, that her image be screened so that it was something people had to look relatively hard for, so that this could never, ever, happen again.

Well, Tony never did do things by halves.

**_1999_ **

Tony had been at a collage party the day he received the call from Obie, telling him in subdued tones that his father had been involved in a fatal car accident, that Jarvis had been behind the wheel and that the other motorist had run a red light; Tony’s first thought was to wonder why bad news always reached him via phone. He then had a near panic attack about Darcy’s whereabouts.

“Was Darcy in the car?” He almost yelled down the line, uncaring for the many looks he received as he pushed his way out of the frat house and into the open where he could hear Obie clearly. All he could do was hold onto the phone, pressing it tightly against his ear so that it would leave red marks on his skin, as if that would make the information travel down the phone lines faster.

“No, your sister wasn’t in the car. She’s still at school and has yet to be informed.”

Tony stopped listening after that, his knees giving out on him, causing him to stumble slightly before he allowed himself to give in to gravity and sink onto the grassy front lawn of a strangers' house. 

Darcy wasn’t hurt, she was safe. He was suddenly so thankful to his father for finally sending her off to a proper school that year. How often did she go along with Jarvis when the man was running errands? He felt sick at the thought of Jarvis being gone, no longer being there to look after him or help him when there was no one else to turn to. Darcy was safe, though, she wasn’t hurt.

He felt guilty; he felt relieved.

The next few hours were a blur that Tony would never quite remember clearly, his world only reestablishing itself when he suddenly found himself walking into a smallish room and seeing his nine-year-old sister turning to face him, big green eyes full of tears and cheeks flushed pink.

“Tony!” She cried, hurrying over to him and allowing him to swing her up into his arms. He held her tightly, one arm around her back and the other under her thighs to keep her stable, though with how she had wound both her arms and legs around him, he doubted she actually needed help. It seemed that she had just been waiting for his arrival before dissolving into loud, gasping sobs against his throat, her whole body hot with the emotional upheaval.

“I’m here, I’m here.” He whispered into her hair like a mantra, at a loss for what else he could possibly say to comfort her when the world as they knew it had just been completely, irrevocably changed.

How, exactly, did you comfort someone who had just become an orphan?

A sudden hand on his shoulder startled him, arms reflexively holding onto Darcy tighter as he spun around, only to see Obie standing there, hand still outstretched.

“Relax, my boy, it’s just me. I sent the others out of the room, why don’t you sit down and calm your sister?” He gestured to the couch pushed against the side of the room.

Nodding, just grateful for someone to be telling him what to do when he didn’t have a clue how to handle this, Tony moved to the couch and sat. Darcy curled up in his lap until her knees were pressed against his left side and her arms tucked between them, hands gripping his shirt as she had always done when upset.

“T-Tony?” She whimpered, pressing her forehead harder against his collar bone.

“It’ll be okay, Darcy, I promise.” It didn’t matter what Tony had to do, he’d make sure that Darcy was alright.

“Don’t leave me!” He could hear the tears starting up again in her voice, another wave of sobs coming on fast.

“Never.” He pulled her away from him gently, just enough that he could see into her glassy eyes.

“I will always be there for you, Darcy. Nothing will ever take me away from you; I’ll always come back. I promise.” He held out his hand, fist clenched save for his little finger which he extended in her direction.

“Pinky promise.” He said, letting her know how serious he was about this. Pinky promises were, after all, unbreakable.

She linked her own, much smaller finger with his for a moment before curling back into his chest, body still shaking with the occasional hiccuped sob. He stroked her hair as she slowly calmed, occasionally placing a kiss on her forehead that was as much a comfort for her as it was for him.

Tony waited until he was sure she had passed into an exhausted slumber before looking up at Obie who had been quietly on the phone in the corner of the room since Tony had sat on the couch.

“Obie?” He called out, voice quiet but firm as the older man quickly wrapped up his phone call.

“I know Father put you in charge of us if something, if something happened.” He swallowed hard against the sudden tightening of his throat. “Don’t send Darcy away to boarding school like he wanted to, please.” Tony looked up at the man, his own tears finally springing to his eyes.

“Please, let her stay with me. I can’t - I can’t stand the thought of her so far away now that she’s all that I have left. Please, I’ll do anything you want me to do with the company and those designs you’ve been asking me about, the ones that’ll make dad’s missiles more aerodynamic, I’ll get to working on them right away. Just-” he hugged Darcy to his chest tighter, pressing his face into her hair and just breathing in deeply for a moment. Her familiar smell bringing the comfort of home to him.

“Please. Don’t send her away. She needs me.”

_I need her._

There was nothing more than the sound of breathing in the room for a moment, Tony tense as if waiting for the axe to drop on his throat.

“I’ll see what I can do, Tony. You just get to working on those designs for me and I’ll try and convince everyone that being here with you is what’s best for Darcy.” Obie finally said, the familiar shadow of a smile on his face.

Tony finally allowed himself to breathe.

*

“Tony!”

Leaning back slightly from where he was finalising the code for his beta test AI robot, Tony idly scratched at his cheek with a blunt fingernail.

“Yeah?” He called out, voice echoing slightly in the half full workshop. There was the sound of loud footsteps on the stairs as Darcy appeared, her hand held against the brick wall for balance.

“There’s someone here to see you,” she blurted out before she’d even reached the last step, her breathing audible from where Tony was sitting.

“If it’s Obie, tell him to wait a minute and I’ll be right up.” He squinted at the screen before him, mind turning over the streams of coded numbers, letters and symbols.

“No, it’s not him. It’s some guy who says he goes to MIT with you.” Tony knew she was eyeing the various metal bits and pieces around the room, her curiosity peaked. It had been a rare thing for her to be in the workshop in the manor, their father having forbidden both his children from ever entering it. Tony had simply pushed all of his father’s work to one side and set up his own computer and workstation equipment to work from.

“MIT? Oh, hey, that must be Rhodey.” Quickly saving his work on his personal database, Tony pushed away from the screen before him and got to his feet, back cracking loudly as he did so.

“Eww,” she stuck her tongue out and pulled a face, nose scrunched up.

“Hey, just wait until you get older, you’ll be creaking and groaning like a little old lady before you know it.” He grinned at her outraged look.

“Come on, Darc. Let’s go see what Rhodey wants.” Reaching out, he took her hand and gently began pulling her back up the stairs, mouth twitching upward as he caught her eyes trailing mournfully from the room. Darcy may not have inherited the Stark family know-how with machines and a genius IQ, but she certainly had the innate curiosity for everything and the desire to touch things she probably shouldn’t in spades.

It took a little over a minute to reach the spacious front sitting room, the sunlight streaming in through the huge glass windows showing off the tastefully maintained garden. An African-American man stood before the windows, staring out at the garden, only to turn at the sound of their approaching footsteps.

“Rhodey, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Tony grinned, glad to see the young man who had been sharing various engineering classes with him at MIT for the past year.

“Must you call me that, Tony?” Rhodey asked, exasperated.

“I can call you something else if you like; how about sugar-plumb? Honey-pie? Bambi?” Tony grinned, amused with himself.

Rhodey looked like the offered names were slugs Tony was asking him to eat. Then his eyes flickered down to Darcy for a moment, a small smile lighting his face at the sight of her hand still in Tony’s.

“Right. This is my little sister, Darcy.” Tony was unable to hide the pride in his voice at saying such a thing. “Darc, this is Rhodey, we share a lot of classes at uni.” 

“Hi Darcy, it’s nice to finally meet you.” Rhodey moved forward, bending down and holding out his hand with a small smile. Darcy looked at it for a moment before Tony felt a small squeeze and she let go of his hand in order to clasp the other mans. They shook once solemnly before she retreated slightly to hide behind Tony, unusual displays of shyness colouring her mood today.

“So, I’ll say it again because it bares repeating: to what do I owe the pleasure?” Tony asked as Rhodey stood, some of the humour dropping from his face. There was only one reason people visited Stark mansion: business. Though what a university student could want business-wise was up for debate.

“I came to make sure, well, I wanted to see that you were… dealing, with it all, okay.” The man hesitantly pushed the words out, his whole demeanour uncomfortable.

Tony blinked at him in genuine surprise.

He had known James Rhodes for a year now, and had picked up that talking about feelings or anything similar was not his forte. To know that Rhodey had taken it upon himself to come out to Manhattan, just to ask Tony a simple question that he could have asked over the phone.

Well.

That he didn’t appear to be after anything else was… unheard of.

“Rhodey, I’m touched, really, I am. I think I’m tearing up even, completely chocked up.” Tony dramatically clutched at his chest with his free hand, because if he didn’t joke about this, if he admitted that in the three weeks since his father and Jarvis had passed that he hadn’t been coping well, that he didn’t know what he was doing, that the funeral had been nothing more than a circus act gone _wrong_. He was sure that he would break, he’d shatter, and he’d reach for the bottle and stay there for as long as it took to numb the hurt in his chest. He’d turn into his father, something he couldn’t do. He had to look after Darcy; she needed him.

The familiar, exasperated sigh that Rhodey seemed to have adopted just for Tony when he was being ridiculous, made the grin on Tony’s face gain some realism.

“Tony, seriously. I, I know I can’t really do much, but if you need anything, anything from a friend and not one of the business partners, or clients, or associates…” Rhodey looked at him, eyes far too knowing for Tony’s taste.

It might be true that Tony had maybe confessed some things to the older man when he was particularly drunk and missing Darcy and Jarvis and the home that those two people inspired in him. He may have confessed to the loneliness he still acutely recalled from his younger days, before he had a little ball of energy and green eyes looking up at him with love and adoration. How he still felt completely alone when he was at the parties his father insisted upon him attending, despite the fact he wasn’t even old enough to get into many of the places they were held at.

Stark men had an image they must adhere to, after all.

“It’s fine, Rhodey. We’re fine.” He let go of Darcy’s hand - that had somehow made its way back into his own - only to pull her closer into his side. The warmth of her small frame grounding him.

Rhodey stared at him silently for a moment, appearing to be trying to verify if he was telling the truth or just bullshitting him.

A small hand reaching up to tug at his shirt, however, completely distracted Tony.

“Tony, I’m hungry.” Darcy’s voice was just this side of a whine, but quiet enough that Rhodey wouldn’t have been able to easily make out her words. She may still be young enough yet to get away with inappropriate conversation topics and demands, but she had been quick to learn from their father that if no one else heard it, it had never happened.

“Okay, what about we get some pizza? I’ll even let you pick the toppings.” Tony winked outrageously at her, causing a giggling fit to start.

“Are you staying for pizza as well?” Tony asked Rhodey, not wanting to admit, even to himself, how much he hopped that the person who was his only male friend would want to stay just a little while longer with him, with them.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m going to be here for a little while. I have this ridiculously rich friend who has a huge mansion and they’re going to let me stay in one of his, no doubt, stupidly expensively furnished spare rooms. He’s going to feed me as well, because he’s got that much money to spare and I’m only a poor collage student.” Rhodey said, voice completely deadpan.

“Well, aren’t you lucky? Pretty sure your rich friend is completely cool though. I mean, to basically put you up while you’re in Manhattan. The coolest person ever, I’d say.” Tony grinned, relief rushing through him. It wasn’t until these past few minutes that he’d realised how much he needed his friend here. It was fine with Darcy, but she was only nine and still had yet to fully grasp that they were all that was left of their family now. Obie kept coming and going, but he was trying to keep the company afloat in the crisis that was the head of the company, the founder, CEO and brains behind the majority of the weapons created, suddenly dying. Tony had been avoiding the papers since it had all happened.

“Tony?” Darcy pulled at his shirt again, apparently sick of being ignored.

“Right, pizza. Well, you’d better go and get the phone, the pizza place won’t ring us themselves.” Tony pushed her gently in the direction of the phone’s cradle, smiling at the enthusiasm that fell over her face at the prospect of using it.

Something about phones seemed to make Darcy ridiculously excited.

“Hey,” Tony said quietly to Rhodey, eyes trained on his sister so he didn’t have to look at his friend. “Thanks.”

A clap to his shoulder surprised him, not having seen the other man move closer.

“Any time, Tony. I mean that.” Rhodey said, voice completely serious.

*

“-And that’s it. God, I think I’ve finally done it. The first one I’ve managed to pull off. Now I just need to close this up and turn you on and - I can’t believe I’ve finally done it.” Tony muttered to himself, carefully putting the wired insides back into the metal framework before reaching for the cover plate to give what would hopefully be his new workshop helper a clean finish on its metal framework body.

“Tony?” A small voice drew his attention.

Turning away from where the white lights had been glaring down at him for the past four hours, he frowned slightly at the now familiar sight of his sister standing at the bottom of the stairs, her hair messy from sleep and still in her sleep shirt and pants, both sporting cartoon drawings of green martians and cliche, disk shaped spaceships. They may or may not have been specially made for her as she’d refused the ones offered to her with the word ‘princess’ scrawled all over it along with pink, sparkly tiaras.

“Darc? What’re you doing up?” He glanced at one of the surrounding computer screens nearby that showed the time to be almost midnight, almost a new year, a new century.

“I had a bad dream,” she mumbled, only years of conditioning allowing Tony to catch the familiar rhythm of her words and deciphering them.

“Oh, Cupcake, come here.” He moved back from the robot AI he was so close to finishing and opened his arms to her without a seconds thought. His creations would still be there in a moment, right now he had a little sister to look after.

Wrapping her up in his arms, Tony helped her sit on his lap, the position not the most comfortable one in the world when he was sitting on a small stool, but tolerable for the moment.

“Do you want to talk about it? It’s not about that ridiculous Y2K Bug thing, is it?” He asked quietly, stroking back her hair as she let out a small sniff. Darcy had been extremely concerned about the whole thing when she’d seen the news reporting on people’s panic over it. Tony thought people needed to calm the hell down.  

“No. There was a man, and he told me you’d gone away and wouldn’t see me anymore.” Her voice was slightly muffled by the material of his shirt, one hand flexing and then relaxing in the cloth covering his chest. Tony tightened his arms around her.

She had been having similar variations of the dream since their father and Jarvis had died.

“You know that’s never going to happen, don’t you? He said softly, worried.

“I know,” she said, surprising him. “You pinky promised, and you never break a pinky promise.” Her voice was full of all the conviction of how a nine-year-old believed the world worked.

“That’s right, Cupcake. I never break them.” He pressed a kiss to her hair.

“Come on, how about we get you back to bed?” He suggested, loosening his hold on her after a moment of silence.

“No, I just wanna stay down here with you.” She looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Please?”

Tony folded like a cheap suit.

“Sure. Hey, want to see something really cool?” He leaned back slightly so that he could see her clearly, a grin spreading over his face.

“Yeah?” A smile formed on her own.

“Look at this here. He’s going to be my new helper bot for the workshop. I’ve just finished wiring him and writing all his code out. You want to help me activate him?” He offered, a small nod all he needed for confirmation.

“Okay, here goes. I need you to push this button on the keyboard for me.” Tony rolled the stool over slightly, so that she could reach out and with a single, small stab of a button, the machine before them initiated a series of beeps and an odd whirling noise. The duo sat in silence as slowly, of its own volition, the helper bot raised its claw-like head and they could hear the loud zoom feature from the camera. The machine turned its head until it was focused on them, the zoom feature seeming to go crazy as it assessed them.

Tony felt pride well up in his chest like a bubble of hot air fit to burst.

“Well, well, well, look at you. Aren’t you a beautiful sight. Hey, boy.” Tony reached out slowly, as if it was a strange dog he was greeting rather than his mechanical extra hand.

A series of beeps emitted from the machine when Tony’s hand made contact, and maybe Tony had accidentally programmed in parameters to imitate dog-like behaviour after all because the bot proceeded to tilt its claw slightly into the gentle petting Tony administered like it was a particularly pleased canine.

“Tony?” Darcy asked quietly, pulling Tony’s attention back to her now lowered eyes.

“What’s wrong?” He asked, worry beginning to fill him and pushing down the proud bubble.

“I thought… I though I was your helper in the workshop?” She asked quietly.

“Darc, you will always be my number one helper down here.” He reassured her with another brief kiss and hug. “This here is for when things might go bad, like when stuff catches on fire, or I need something really heavy lifted.”

He reached out and tilted her face up so that he could look her in the eyes.

“I will never be able to replace you, ya dummy. You’re too important for me to even try - hey!”

The robot in front of them had suddenly reached out and clasped onto the hem of Tony’s shirt, thankfully on the side Darcy wasn’t leaning against.

“What the hell are you doing? Bad bot!” He tried to use the hand not holding Darcy steady on his lap to pull open the three pronged claw, but they wouldn’t budge. Instead, the bot gave a surprisingly gentle tug for an underdeveloped grip code, and then beeped loudly.

“Let go! I didn’t create you to be literally clingy. Let go, you bas-you dummy!” He checked himself just in time. He probably swore too much in front of Darcy as it was, no use adding fuel to that preverbal fire when he was attached to a machine. The bot gave a particularly hard tug at the last word, almost succeeding in sending Tony, and by extension, Darcy to the ground.

“What the-”

“Dummy!” Darcy said loudly, all the seriousness a child could hold in her voice, one finger pointed at the bot sternly.

Tony had a moment to be utterly charmed as he could remember the exact thing happening years ago but with a stuffed teddy bear that had refused to sit upright at the tea party table, when the bot suddenly let go of his shirt. The pistons in the arm moved as it turned its camera face towards Darcy, beeping in a way that almost sounded excited.

“No way.” Tony breathed, half ecstatic that the bot was clearly ‘thinking’ for himself, and half dismayed that he appeared to have taken a random word from Tony’s mouth and christened himself with a ridiculous name.

“You think your name is Dummy?” He asked, suspicion confirmed when the bots claw did a complete 360’ turn in its socket.

“That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.” He snorted, the worry having given way to amusement.

“I think it’s great.” Darcy said, earlier insecurities apparently banished from her mind. Fearlessly, she reached out and gave the robot a pat, smile blooming on her face at the way the robot leaned into her hand as it had done Tony’s. “If he wants his name to be ‘Dummy’, then we should call him Dummy.”

“But Darc, it’s not-” Tony began, stuck on the ridiculousness of it all.

“You’re a good boy, aren’t you, Dummy? Yes, you are.” She cooed at it, the bot beeping in what could only be described as delight.

Tony mentally held up a white flag. So what if he had a fully functional helper bot, capable of independent thoughts and decisions that was essentially named after a simile of the word ‘idiot’? At least, he supposed, watching his sister and the machine interact; at least everyone appeared to be happy.

His computer chirped loudly.

Giving his sister a one armed hug, he sighed.

“Happy New Year, Darcy.”

**_2003_ **

Darcy’s thirteenth birthday heralded the creation of a new charity organisation, the Maria Stark Foundation, which Tony had made happen - as only he could - as a birthday gift for Darcy. After being fed a steady diet of half-truths, embellishments and, at times, flat out lies, all her life about her mother, Darcy near worshipped the ghost of a fictional woman. Tony tried not to feel too guilty about it, to the point where sometimes even he had to question if an established fact in Darcy’s world was truth or a convoluted story to ease a broken heart.

Tony didn’t, of course, reveal to Obie or anyone besides Darcy the truth behind the organisation creation. To the rest of the world, he was the successful and loving son creating something beautiful in memory of the mother he lost as a child.

Sometimes Tony wondered how stupid the world really was.

The launch party had been one of the usual events, the only difference being that Darcy had been in attendance. Obie and Tony had argued for an entire week about that, until Tony had finally given in when Obie agreed that she miss the launch itself which was open to the press, and only attend the dinner and after party which was a more private affair of America’s rich and famous.

Darcy had sat next to him through out, wearing a dark blue dress that was covered in sparkles. Her hair had begun the night up in some fancy formation neither Stark sibling had bothered to learn to pronounce, but by the time the dancing began, it was mostly hanging down around her shoulders in waves.

The start of the dancing had women swarm for Tony and he’d internally cringed before an idea occurred to him.

Reaching out, he took Darcy’s hand and solemnly asked for a dance, making a show of it and unintentionally making the older woman swoon.

Darcy giggled and let him lead her out onto the floor wherein he’d slowly spun her around in a simplified version of the waltz, ignoring the two hundred other people there. Watching as she tried to mimic his feet placement, her eyes stuck on his shiny black dress shoes and her own baby black heels, he gave in and nudged her until she was standing on the toes of his shoes so that he could sweep them about the large ballroom floor to the sound of a live orchestra and her delighted laughter.

Tony had managed to spend the majority of the night dancing with his sister at their mother’s charity ball, only to be pulled away from her when she was struggling to keep her eyes open and he left her to put a few chairs together at their table and stretch out atop them for a nap before they would leave. Obie had then totted him from person to person, shaking hands over proposed deals about weapons contracts and meaningless words over potentially revisiting the benched Super Soldier Program.

Tony would always, however, count it as his favourite gala.

*

“You looked like an idiot.”

Tony stopped only a few steps into his workshop, head swinging around to where a couch had been shoved against the wall, out of the way. Sitting on it was his sister, her pretty green dress that she’d been talked into wearing by Obie was now scrunched up in such a way that the wrinkles would never fully come out. Dummy’s head had lowered to where she had been stroking his support beam just above the camera. A reluctant smile quirked his lips as he moved over to her, undoing his tie and snagging a rolling stool to sit down on as he walked.

“I distinctly remember telling you, little sister of mine, not to be in here without me to supervise you.” He sat down heavily on his stool before her.

“I’m not little, I’m thirteen, a teenager.” Darcy sounded far too pleased about this fact for Tony’s comfort.

“So I should expect the curfew breaking, underage drinking and ‘the-world-hates-me-so-I-hate-everything’ attitude to start up any day now?” He asked, watching as Dummy moved away from Darcy and began trying to pick up a stray wire on the floor, only to succeed in pushing it around due to a lack of fine motor skills.

“Mmm, yes to the third, but I’m saving the other two up for when you least expect it.” She paused for a moment, head tilted slightly in thought. “I fully expect to be able to call you for non-judgemental bail money any day now, so be prepared.” Her voice was straining to hide the laughter behind a more serious tone.

“I’ll accept, but only if I still get to tease you about it.” He said, far more practiced than she was.

“I’d expect nothing less.” A sudden grin broke out on her face.

“So, out of curiosity, why was it that I was called an idiot when I so innocently came down here - temporarily ignoring the impossibility of such a thing seeing as I am a genius and all.”

“If you had of been sitting where I was when you were up on stage accepting the CEO position for the company, you would have said the same thing. You practically had a neon sign above your head flashing the word.” Her amusement was palpable.

“I’ll have you know I looked very dashing, like a very young, genius, multimillionaire, CEO.” He put on his most obnoxious voice, pleased when she finally gave in and laughed loudly.

“N-no,” she giggled. “You looked like an idiot. I bet Rhodey agrees with me.”

“Rhodey doesn’t have a sense of fun, so he’s hardly someone to reference.” Tony let out a sigh, eyes gazing at his poor bot that was still unsuccessful at picking up the wire. “Dummy, give it up, will you? You’re just embarrassing both of us now.”

“Don’t be mean to him.” Darcy protested, lips turning down in a pout.

“Despite what you seem to think, he’s actually _my_ bot. I can say what I like about him.”

“Just because you made him doesn’t make him yours.” She folded her arms over her chest, pout now firmly formed. The bot, realising they were talking about him, rolled over to Tony and proceeded to shove his camera claw into his face.

“Dummy! No, just, no. Get out of my face, you menace, you're the reason behind most of the mess in this place.” Tony gently pushed the bot out of his face as he fought a grin, fingers automatically running up and down the bots support strut in a familiar and comforting motion.

Tony was so busy playfully pushing away the happily beeping bot, Darcy’s laughter back in full force as it filled the workshop, that he completely missed the entrance of his newest employee.

“Mister Stark, is this a bad time?” A feminine voice queried from the entrance of the workshop.

Looking over, Tony refused to think of what he must look like to the new arrival, sitting on a stool in a tuxedo with a robot in his face and his little sister laughing away on the couch, a dress that had probably cost thousands scrunched up around her legs like it was from the bargain bin at Target.

“Pepper, my new darling. What’re you doing down here?” He asked casually, deciding to act as normal as possible. Honestly, if the woman had any chance in hell of lasting in her new job as Tony Stark’s Personal Assistant, then she had better be able to roll with the punches, no matter how formless or out of left field they were.

“Dummy, go fix up that table like you were meant to do yesterday.” He gently pushed the bot away, sad beeps letting him know that the bot was now sulking as it did what was asked of it at a glacial pace.

“Pepper?” Darcy asked quietly, laughter having faded almost immediately at the entrance of a stranger.

“Right, Pepper, this is my sister, Darcy. Darcy, this is Pepper, she’s my new assistant; I hired her last month after she pepper sprayed my body guards. It was truly a sight to see, I think I fell a little bit in love.” Tony batted his eyes at the red-head who had stopped near him. The woman raised an unimpressed eyebrow, her expression a mixture of ‘you are such an idiot’ and ‘how the hell did you convince them you were a sane and responsible choice for CEO of a multimillion dollar company?’

It was an impressive look.

“If you have a minute, Mister Stark, I need you to sign these.” She held out the bundle of papers she was holding, evidently choosing to ignore the weirdness. Always a wise move in situations such as these.

“Hence the name ‘Pepper’, right?” Darcy asked from the couch, a bit of amusement tinging her voice again.

“And don’t call me Pepper.” Pepper said at the same time.

“Exactly.” Tony sent his sister a wink, causing a large grin to cross her face before turning back to Pepper.

“Also, I’m your boss, pretty sure that means I can call you whatever I like.”

“Tony,” Darcy groaned loudly, hand coming up to her forehead in what was a remarkable display of exasperation for a thirteen-year-old.

“It doesn’t.” Pepper said deadpan.

“Miss Potts,” Tony said regally, proving that he did actually know the woman’s real name.

“You have been hand chosen by me to act as my PA. This privilege is desired by thousands of people, fought for in underground matches that are surely as illegal as they are flattering. You should feel very blessed to have me as your boss. Euphoric, even. Certainly thankful enough to allow me to call you by what is honestly the best nickname in the history of appointed nicknames.”

Tony sent her a winning smile as a moment of silence dragged between the three before Pepper snorted in a distinctly unladylike way that her image of a pencil skirt and high heels would have one believe.

“You obnoxious ass.”

As soon as the words had left her mouth, Pepper blushed a bright pink, one hand coming up to her mouth in a belated attempt to hold in the words as her other hand clutched the paperwork to her chest.

“Oh my god! I-I’m so, I mean, it just,” she made a gesture with her hand that Tony took to mean: ‘the words literally burst from my mouth with no prior thought to what they might be and what that might mean for my employed status’, as she fumbled with trying to form an apology.

“Oh,” Tony said softly, a small wicked smile quirking the corner of his mouth, brown eyes alight with humour. “Oh, I like you. If I give you a pay rise will you let me call you Pepper? I swear, it’s not me making fun of you or anything. I just really liked your pepper spray ninja trick, is all. I even got the security footage of it, if you’d like a copy to immortalise the moment?” He offered.

“What?” She asked, looking a little swept away. Tony could forgive her for that, he was impressed she’d been able to keep up for as long as she had.

“Come on, a pay rise and the allowance to call you Pepper. I’m sorry, but I honestly cannot go around calling you _Virginia_ all the time. I just can’t take that seriously, so many jokes in one word.” He shook his head. “I’ll never be able to talk to you without laughing. I mean, what can I say, I’m a child at heart and immature jokes get me every time.” He offered a slightly apologetic shrug.

“Besides, Pepper Potts has a much better ring to it, don’t you agree?”

“It sounds like the name of a superhero.” Darcy offered eagerly, leaning forward with a large grin on her face.

“Exactly! Pepper Potts, mild PA for the charming Tony Stark by day; crime fighting with pepper spray and high heels by night.” He titled his head to the side in consideration, tapping a finger to the side of his chin. “I wonder if that’s a marketable idea?”

“Mister Stark,” Pepper seemed to have pulled herself together as the conversation delved into superhero territory. “You need to sign these paper. I will be back in an hour to collect them.” She dumped the papers on the closest worktop bench before turning in her very high heels and walking from the room.

“So, does this mean I can call you Pepper?” He called out, the silence not dampening his smile.

“Silence means yes, right?” He turned to his sister once more.

“You’re supposed to be the adult here.” She snorted.

“Right, you’re just a kid.”

“Teen-age-er! Teenager, Tony!”

**_2006_ **

Tony knew that look on his sisters face.

“Darcy,” He couldn’t keep the warning from his voice as she stared at him from the phone screen.

“Tony,” her voice was wheeling already, before she pointed the camera phone at the television. There was the news coverage of the biggest thing in science in years, that of Doctor Banner’s recent exposure of gamma radiation and subsequent development of an alter-ego, recently dubbed the ‘Hulk’.

“You’re not seriously suggesting what I think you’re suggesting, because you’re a smart girl, Darc, and this would be potentially a really, really stupid idea.” Tony sighed loudly, having known as soon as he’d seen the news headline that morning and the swiftness of her phone call, that nothing he said would matter if she had already set her heart on this ridiculous idea.

“Come on, Tony.” She didn’t even have the decency to pretend that she was asking for his permission to do this. She was asking his opinion, but she was always asking that, and normally ignoring any kind of advice he had to offer in the first place.

“This is a ridiculous reason to base your education on.” He griped, determined not to give in to the big green eyes that once more filled the screen.

“It’s an awesome reason. I know you’d like for me to take more of an interest in the scientific community-”

“I have never said anything like that.”

“So this is a great way to be involved.”

“I want you to do something you enjoy and-”

“It’s a university I want to go to.”

“Choosing your university based on what’s on the tv is insane.”

There was silence as they both stared hard at their respective phone screens.

“I want to go to Culver University, Tony. It’s the only one I’m going to apply for.” Darcy was nothing if not stubborn.

“Do they actually offer the program you want to do?” He finally asked, semi-admitting defeat.

“Sure do, I checked it out and the Political Sciences program there is pretty sweet looking.” She grinned, victorious.

“Darcy,” Tony sighed, looking down for a moment before he looked back up at her.

“Please tell me that the fact that this is the university that Doctor Banner, now the Hulk, taught at has nothing to do with your decision to apply.”

Darcy grinned the widest yet before blowing him a kiss.

“Totally not. Love you. Got to go. Bye!” The screen went black as she disconnected the call.

Tony stared at the dark screen for a moment before snorting as he shoved his phone back into his pocket.

“Well, _I’m_ not going to be the one to tell Obie.”

*

“Obie, I don’t really think this is my area.” Tony said quietly, discretely, as people milled about around them.

“Tony, trust me. No one else has a chance at developing the right kind of machines in order to find this crazy scientist turned monster.” Obie said seriously, hand coming to rest companionably on Tony’s shoulder.

Tony still was convinced. Going on a systematic witch hunt for a misguided fool who had played around with gamma radiation and the super soldier serum just left him feeling… uncomfortable.

“This wouldn’t be an issue if Ross hadn’t petitioned for the revamp of the super soldier program four years ago.” He grumbled, still bitter that the final decision had been taken out of his hands by the board of directors at SI, despite the fact that it was classified as more his father’s private research and an SI patent.

“Come on, Tony.” Obie leaned closer to him, voice lowered. “Our contracts with the military are insisting on us aiding them with finding this monster. It’s an issue of national security. Now… imagine what it would happen if the monster turned up at your sisters school. There would be no way of knowing before hand and it would be very likely that she’d be hurt, killed even.”

Tony frowned, unhappy with the way in which Obie was so neatly playing him.

“Fine, tell the General I’ll look into it.”

“Good choice, Tony.” Obie said with a squeeze of his shoulder before moving off to mingle with the people around them. Tony watched him go, mind wandering to how he could work on the tracking devices to find the Hulk while also beginning his new project of an AI for the mansion in Malibu.

**_2008_ **

“Pep, Pepper, my darling.” Tony grinned, finding unending amusement in the calm facade he knew was hiding a wealth of irritation.

“Tony, you need to show them something.” She argued, a StarkPad beta test model held before her as she attempted, with repeated failure, to get him to understand and concede to her point.

“See, I really don’t think I do. I told them I was working on something and, here I am, working on something.” He spread his arms wide and grinned, his new holoscreen technology surrounding him in a soft, blue light.

“You’re not working on what you’re meant to be working on, though.” Pepper’s voice was exasperated.

“Come on, Pep. It’s not like the army needs anything Hulk related right now, he’s been MIA for years. He’d have to be stupid to suddenly appear after such a good streak, and Doctor Banner is an incredibly intelligent man.” He paused for a moment before amending his sentence. “Apart from the miscalculation and gamma exposure thing.” Tony spun lazily from side to side on his chair, eyes tracking the holoscreens again as his mind moved to more interesting projects, namely his AI.

“Tony-” Pepper was cut off by the sudden ringing of a phone.

“Sorry Pep, you’ll have to wait a moment.” Tony grinned unrepentantly as he twitched his fingers through a holoscreen like he’d pressed an invisible button to accept the call.

“Well, well, well, if it isn’t the aspiring university student.” He teased, taking in his sisters excited looking face for any possible sign that she wasn’t happy.

Darcy starting university last month had been a jarring shock to Tony in that he realised his baby sister was finally growing up. While she had already turned eighteen earlier that month, it was the packing of her stuff to go off to university that had made him feel somewhat emotional. Tony would deny to his dying day that after he’d driven her to the airport so their private jet could take her to Virginia, and thus Culver University campus, he might have gone home and sat quietly in her bedroom, heart hurting.

He also might have found a tin of cupcakes waiting for him on her bed with a sticky note on the lid, his sisters familiar writing on it.

Tony had laughed and opened the tin, finding half a dozen cupcakes with bright, electric blue icing, tiny multicoloured sprinkles decorating them inside. He may have eaten them all in one sitting, but there was no one who could verify that. 

“Hi, Pepper.” Darcy’s voice shook Tony from his memory as she waved to the older woman, who had moved into view of the screen when she’d seen who was calling him.

“Hello, Darcy, how’s university life treating you?” The earlier exasperation at Tony now replaced with warm affection.

“Oh, you know. Lots of parties, the people on my floor are pretty cool, and my classes are interesting enough.” She shrugged, the whole frame lifting and falling with the motion. Tony had offered to buy a house for her to live in, off campus, but she’d insisted that she liked having the ‘real college experience’.

“As long as you’re having fun, and you’re safe.” Pepper smiled at her.

“Oh yeah, totally safe.” Darcy winked, causing Tony to groan loudly.

“Stop, I don’t want to hear about it.” He loudly complained.

“Yeah, because all the years I’ve gotten to listen to you go on about the guys and girls you sleep with were a picnic for me.” Darcy said dryly.

“Have you made some nice friends?” Pepper broke up what could easily delve into an immature argument and one-upmanship between the siblings.

“I met these two guys, not like that,” she shot Tony a bland look, causing him to snort and put his hands up innocently as if he’d never been thinking what they all knew he had. “Jack McGee, he’s part of the campus paper.” Tony made an unhappy noise in the back of his throat.

“Darc, making friends with the paparazzi? Have I taught you nothing?”

“Calm down, Tones, he’s only into interesting stories and me going to uni is hardly interesting. I’m not completely stupid.” She rolled her eyes.

_Okay, ouch._

He knew she didn’t mean anything by it, but it still hurt. Darcy’s public appearances had been few and far between for years now, something he was finding he had to argue increasingly with Obie about. Tony knew it was something that helped to keep her safe, no one was kidnapping or threatening someone they didn’t recognise. Initially, Obie had been helpful in keeping Darcy out of the limelight, paying off those who needed some persuasion to refer to Darcy as ‘Lewis’ rather than ‘Stark’, sighting Tony as the face of the company, not his, of average intelligence, sister. Recently, however, Obie seemed to have realised the potential Darcy offered in establishing a connection between Stark Industries and other, powerful companies overseas or wealthy potential investors. He had been pushing for her to meet various wealthy, _single_ , investors.

It was something Tony was dreading having to talk to the man about, because Darcy would break one of those guys’s noses before she thought about dating them. Especially at the suggestion of her psudo-godfather.

“He’s really into what’s happening on campus and the world in general, so he makes for a great conversationalist.” Darcy continued, oblivious to Tony’s inner thoughts. “The other guy I met, Jim Wilson, he’s an arts student and really into videoing stuff on his phone.”

“It’s good to hear you’re making friends, Darcy.” Pepper encouraged.

“Don’t forget you can make friends with girls, that’d be awesome too.” Tony teased.

“How’s things been going there without me?” She ignored him.

“Oh, wonderful. I can do whatever I like in the mansion now that I don’t need to worry about my sister being in the kitchen at midnight when I’m half awake and seeking coffee in the nude.” Tony said cheerfully, suppressing his own remembered awkwardness when that had happened, the pitch of Darcy’s shriek should be bottled and used to take out enemy foes. Tony had claimed to be half deaf for the next week, much to Pepper’s annoyance and Darcy’s continued embarrassment.

“Tony,” she whined. “We agreed that event should never be spoken of again. I’m going to need so much therapy over that.” She sighed loudly.

“Hey, you weren’t the only one scarred from that.” He protested, hiding the smirk trying to break free on his face.

“You laughed at me every time you saw me for the next week.” She said dryly, an unimpressed look on her face.

“Yeah, well…” Tony couldn’t help but let the grin break free and laughed. “You should have seen your face.”

“As charming as watching you two act like the little kids you are is,” Pepper broke in before Darcy could retort. “Darcy, I need to get your brother to actually do some of the work he’s been meaning to do - today, preferably.” She gave him a very pointed look.

“Pepper, you never let me have any fun.” He sighed, flopping back in his chair for a dramatic flair.

“Poor you.” Darcy was unsympathetic to his plight.

“Go do some study or something.” He waved a hand dismissively at his sister, but she only laughed.

“Bye Pepper, try not kill him. Bye Tony, don’t make anything explode or she really will murder you in your sleep this time.”

“I wouldn’t wait for him to be asleep.” Pepper’s voice was unfairly sweet.

“Bye, Darcy.” He smiled slightly as she cut the connection before swivelling around on his stool to face Pepper again.

“You wouldn’t really murder me, would you?” He gave her his most charming, camera smile.

“Refrain from blowing up anything and we won’t have to find out.”

“You are terrifying.” He said, amused despite himself.

“You need to work on those projects for General Ross.” Pepper said, making Tony groan loudly and try to roll away from her via stool.

“But, Pepper,” he complained as she easily caught the back on his shirt and pulled him back into place.

It was going to be a long day.

 


	2. At the Movies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, firstly let me apologise. Oh my god, how badly edited was the first chapter? I’m using a new (to me) software writing system and it’s awful at picking up spelling and word choice errors. This time, I put it through word and some serious reading aloud sessions so hopefully I’ve caught much more before I post it. 
> 
> People seem to like the premise for this story, which is awesome as it’s really interesting to write. This sections is basically a fast forward of IM1, IM2 and the Avengers. So much assumed knowledge going on here, but I thought it’d be dull to basically rewrite the movies. I pretty much picked and chose what I wanted to include based on what gave information about the main events, adding in certain twists and conversations to cover my bases. 
> 
> Sorry if people have been getting random notifications as I edit things, I’ll try not to do that so much this time. 
> 
> So, after this chapter we move into completely new territory and - how I refer to in the planning of this story as - the ‘after Avengers movie’ part. Thanks for everyones’ support thus far! 
> 
> FYI, this story will be renamed when the third chapter is posted, due to the authors current awful title.

**_2009_ **

“Why aren’t you wearing the pyjamas I bought you?” Tony asked, staring down at his phone screen with a look of betrayal.

Obie sighed and made a despairing comment before hanging up. Tony snorted with amusement and pushed another button.

“It’s stupid o’clock, Tones, why’re you ringing me?” Darcy asked, appearing to be fairly awake despite her complaint. Tony grinned down at the small screen, as the familiar swell of happiness he got every time they spoke filled his chest.

“Here I was, thinking you’d appreciate a call from your loving brother, and all I get is complaints.” He sat himself down in one of the humvee’s, amused at his sisters’ drama as she hung her head, a personality trait that Pepper claimed she had mimicked from Tony himself. Tony was adamant that she’s adopted it from Rhodey.

“Tony!” Rhodey called out, pulling his attention from the phone to the soldier who came to a stop next to the open window in Tony’s door.

“I’m sorry, this is the ‘fun-vee’, the ‘hum-drum-vee' is back there.” Tony waved him off, no desire to listen to the other mans complaints about his hangover again. It wasn’t Tony’s fault that the soldier didn’t know moderation.

“You did good, Tony.” He said, hand reaching out and clasping Tony’s arm for a moment through the open window.

“Hi, Rhodey!” Darcy’s voice came loudly from the tinny speakers of Tony’s phone. Honestly, he needed to do something about using other people’s phones, he’d improved the laughably clunky Microsoft tablet that had been knocking about the local market, and phones should logically be the next step. Just because he was a weapons dealer didn’t mean he couldn’t branch out a bit.

“Darcy?” Rhodey asked, surprised as Tony obligingly tilted the phone so that they could see one another.

“Don’t either of you ever sleep?” There was the familiar exasperation Tony was so well acquainted with.

“Nope.” The siblings shared an identical smile.

“I can’t be bothered to deal with this right now.” Rhodey turned and moved off into the heat of the Afghani desert.

“Don’t mind him, he’s a little hungover.” Tony turned the phone back so that he could see his sister properly.

“Any sane person would be too after having to put up with those stripper poles in your plane.” She said dryly.

“I don’t know what you’re referring to. Pepper made me remove them, remember.” He said tartly.

“Because you always listen to Pepper.”

“I always do.”

“Lies. What’d you want, anyway? Much as I enjoy talking to you, I have an assignment I was working on and you totally killed the roll I was on. I was in the zone and everything.” She brought the conversation back on track.

“Just wanted to know if you were wearing the pyjamas I bought you.” He said simply, smiling when she moved to stand before a mirror, her smallish dorm room at university reflected in its surface. She posed for him ridiculously, showing off the grey pyjama pants and the old MIT shirt she’d stolen from him years ago.

“I’m wearing half of them, that counts, right?” She shrugged.

“Sure. I’ll be back in Malibu tomorrow, find some time to come visit me when uni’s over, okay?”

“I’ll visit. I have to cram in all the time with you I can, what with you being so old and all.”

“What!” Tony squawked, ignoring any attention the noise gained him from the surrounding soldiers.

“See you soon.” She gave him a cheeky wink before disconnecting the call, her laughter still ringing in his ears.

“We’re ready to go, Mister Stark.” One of the faceless army guys said, starting the engine.

“Sure, let’s get this show on the road. Any of you got siblings?” He asked idly as his fingers flew across the keys of his phone.

“I’ve got a little brother, Sir.” The man beside him offered when there was a beat of silence.

“Oh yeah? He give you much sass?” Tony asked, smile pulling at his mouth.

“Only every day, Sir. He did almost have a meltdown when he heard we were going to be meeting you, Sir.” The soldier offered, Tony grinned at the familiar tone of fondness he often heard in his own voice when he spoke of Darcy in the soldiers’ voice.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah… I wonder if you wouldn’t mind a photo, Sir?” The soldier asked, voice slightly nervous.

 “Sure, no problem. Just don’t let me see it up on MySpace or anything.” The soldier shuffled across the space between them and posed.

 “Please, no gang signs.” Tony almost laughed when the soldier lowered his hand. “No, throw it up, I’m kidding. Yeah, peace. We all love peace.”

“Come on. Hurry up. Just click it. Don’t change any settings. Just click it.” The soldier tried to rush his comrade with the camera.

They didn’t even get a chance to take the picture before the explosion rocked the vehicle. Tony found himself thrown to the side of the humvee, shock and horrified realisation hitting him in turns. Time blurred quickly as he watched the soldiers surrounding him, who he had just been _talking to_ , get shot down before his eyes. Survival instinct kicking in, he threw open the door and stumbled from the vehicle, ducking behind a rock onto the sand. Fumbling in his pocket, he managed to pull out his phone, brain fuzzy as to what the hell he was meant to do with it.

He had only a moment to register a series of text messages from Darcy, the latest just being his name with a question mark, when suddenly one of the bombs that had been going off around him landed in the sand beside him.

There were many things in Tony’s life that he had regretted, been angry about and even felt depressingly sad over. But the sight of his name inscribed upon the side of that weapon, was one of the worst feelings he’d ever experienced. The sheer betrayal that twisted his insides into a hard ball of iron was enough to distract him from the very real danger he was in for a precious few seconds.

Then he was on his back, pain blooming in his chest and ears ringing. Pulling at his shirt, he saw red staining his fingers and knew, just knew.

It was all over. 

*

Being kidnapped in the Afghani desert and having your body ripped open and an electro-magnet installed with wires snaking out to connect with a car battery was… horrific. Tony had never really appreciated what kinds of mind spinning horror that word really encapsulated. If it hadn’t of been for Yinsen, Tony knew he would have lost his mind the moment he’d woken and realised his situation.

The Ten Rings had been a surprise. He knew there were terrorist organisations in the world, what else was he making all those weapons for? But to know that such a group was being supplied with his companies’ own weapons? That they were his ‘loyal customers’ as Yinsen said. He had effectively aided in the killing of American soldiers, perhaps not pulling the trigger himself, but supplying the means. He felt sick to his stomach every time he thought about it. The sheer stockpile they had of them, how had that even happened? Who would betray him like that?

That was why he had to do something about it. What if they went after Darcy next? She’d never do well in a situation like this. She couldn’t even offer technical expertise as a safeguard against these people. Tony had heard stories, horrible stories of unspeakable actions committed against women who became captives of terrorists. If they ever got their hands on her… What if whoever had betrayed him decided that just one Stark wasn’t enough, what if they decided to have Darcy kidnapped also?

What if they killed him? He might annoy them a little too much, or maybe they’d find someone else to build them bombs. Someone not as good, but they’d be compliant. He might never get to see his sister again, never talk to her or eat one of her amazing baked goods. That ridiculous conversation about pajamas might be the last thing they said to one another. He could never say the things he should have said; about how greatful he was to have her in his life. She was the shinning light in some of his darkest moments. He could never even tell her the truth, the secret of their mother that he kept hidden away from her. If he died, he wanted her to know the truth, even if it might hurt her. She’d need to hear something like that from him; no one else would be able to explain to her the reasons why he did what he did. Why he still continued with the lie. Why he’d made up the lie to begin with.

There was no other option than to survive this.

That was why Tony needed to do something about the car battery he had to carry around. Not to mention the  _persuasion_ techniques that the Ten Rings employed. Being submerged into a bucket of water with a series of cables running out of his chest served to make the experience doubly as awful. If he wasn’t half drowning, then there was the painful tingly sensation in his chest as water got onto the cables and the electricity conducted, sending out small shocks each time.

Thus the idea for the adaptation of the Repulsor Tech node was born.

Howard Stark hadn’t been good for too much, in Tony’s opinion, but the massive arc reactor powering the Stark Industries complexes was a thing of futuristic beauty. If Tony could harness that power, miniaturize it, and use that to replace the car battery and cables. Well. Tony wasn’t a genius for nothing. Not only could he save himself the pain of electric shocks every time they decided to try drowning him, but he could also use it as a power source to get out of this place.

Mind focusing in on a plan, one that had a slim chance of working, but still a chance, Tony got to work.

*

“You got a family?” Tony asked in one of the few down moments they shared in their cave of a cell. He was dirty, exhausted and missing Darcy like a constant ache beside his mostly missing sternum, what he wouldn’t give for his clean and comfortable bed back home.

“Yes, and I will see them when I leave here.” Yinsen looked at him, voice calm as ever. “And you, Stark?”

“I have a little sister, light of my fucking life.” Tony couldn’t stop the slightly hysterical chuckle from escaping his mouth as his thoughts once again circulated back to Darcy.

She would be panicking with him missing. She had always hated when he was away, whether it be for school or business. Even though she was in university now, she still phoned him at least once a week, always using the camera function so she could actually see that he was okay, and not lying that he was fine. Honestly, one case of food poisoning and she never trusted his assessment of himself again.

“So, you are a man with something worth fighting for.” Yinsen said quietly, and Tony knew he was right.

There was no way in hell that Tony would leave Darcy to face the world alone. He knew he wasn’t the prefect role model or brother, but he would always be there for her, whether she needed him or not. When he got out of here - and it had to be when because he couldn’t bear the thought of her having to bury another family member, Jarvis and their parents had been enough - he was going to change for the better.

This weapons business stopped - immediately. He was going to be a man she would be proud to call her brother and, even if Tony could never wash the blood off his hands, he would prevent it from staining hers. He would track down all the weapons that had gone astray and destroy them, and whoever had them. He’d find out who had betrayed him, sold him out to the enemy, and hold them accountable for the innocent lives that had died because of their greed. Then, when he had found every last weapon, he’d dedicate the rest of his life to making amends for his selfishness.

Green energy was the future for him. He’d not just donate money to charities, he’d go out there and build the buildings himself, do the research to find the most efficient and safe way of pushing the world into the future. He’d still be a futurist, but this time he’d do it with a peaceful and thriving world in mind. The bottom line was no longer his concern; he’d sooner tear apart his own company and make a new one than continue the way things had been going.

No more lives needlessly lost because of his ignorance. No more people hurt because they weren’t part of the profit margins. No more ignoring the problems.

Yinsen gave him a contemplating look before he nodded slightly, as if he truly believed that there was a fraction of a chance that Tony could get them out of this alive. That the future Tony could now see in his mind had a chance in hell of become a reality.

*

He didn’t allow himself to dwell too deeply on their botched bid for freedom. Of Yinsen’s death and belief in his reuniting with his family; his final words: ‘Don’t waste it. Don’t waste your life.’ He didn’t think about the scorching heat of the sun on his back and how his feet burned in the sand. After God knew how long of being stuck in that dank, dark, cave, his skin was particularly sensitive and it had steadily reddened under the foreign sun.

But, against all odds, Rhodey had found him. Had bundled him up from the middle of nowhere in the desert and brought him home, back to American soil, back to his life.

“Tony, are you ready?” Rhodey’s voice was quiet, full of concern as he stood before the wheel chair Tony had been seated in.

Taking a deep breath and pulling his mind away from unpleasant thoughts, Tony pushed himself up with his left hand, the other trapped in a medical blue sling.

“Watch it, coming up here.” Rhodey warned as two paramedics and a stretcher approached the lowered deck of the plane.

“Are you kidding me with this, get rid of them.” Tony snapped, annoyed at the sight. There was no way he was spending any time in a hospital after being cooped up for months already. He’d already had the medics at the American base swarming over him. Not to mention, he knew the paparazzi sharks would love to catch him in a moment of weakness, being held by a terrorist organisation for months on end wasn’t enough of an excuse for them.

Turning his attention finally to the people waiting for him, he felt his abused heart give a particularly hard thump. Pepper was red eyed, hands clasped firmly together in front of her body as she stood tall. Darcy brown eyes glittered with tears, her hair in a messy ponytail and casually dressed, the exact opposite of Pepper’s pristine outfit. Happy was standing just behind them, the relief on his face evident.

“Did you miss me?” Tony tried for a joke, his throat tight as exhaustion threatened to hit him hard.

He was home.

“Not at all.” Darcy’s voice was chocked as she moved towards him, carefully taking his free hand in a tight squeeze, willing to wait until they were somewhere more private where she could hug him and not have to let go of him for a long time.

“I hate job hunting.” Pepper added, a smile flickering to life despite the tears.

“Yeah, well, we’ve got work to do.” Tony said, moving towards the car where Happy readily opened it for the Stark siblings to pile into the back, Pepper joining Happy in the front, the PA twisting around in her seat so that she could keep her eyes on her boss.

“Where to, Sir?” Happy asked, turning the engine on.

“The hospital, please, Happy.” Pepper immediately said.

“No.” Tony shook his head.

“No? Tony, you have to go to the hospital.” Pepper protested, her chin jutting out slightly in that stubborn way Tony was so familiar with.

“No is a complete answer.” Tony didn’t react as he felt Darcy press gently against his side, although she was trying to be mindful of his injured arm, he had to suppress the desire to pull away as she leaned in a bit too hard.

Tony fast-talked around Pepper, quietly pleased that she hadn’t lost her touch in the months he’d been… gone.

He won their argument, the perks of being everyone bar Darcy’s boss, and found himself finishing off the first of his cheeseburgers with the cemented feeling that this was it, he was really home.

Before he was properly ready they were pulling up for the press conference and Obie was rushing forwards to open the car door for him. Tony had only seconds to give Darcy’s arm a quick, reassuring squeeze, before he was on stage and announcing the news that he knew was going to have ongoing consequences for everyone he cared about.

“And that is why, effective immediately, I am shutting down the weapons manufacturing division until such a time as I can decide what the future of the company will be.”

The noise level was deafening.

*

“Are you sure this is what you want to do?” Darcy asked quietly, looking down at him from where his head was resting on her lap, the rest of his sore body stretched out on the couch in the main lounge room of the Malibu mansion.

No one was particular impressed with his announcement, with the questions about his sanity and PTSD already being speculated about. Tony didn’t really care what anyone else thought. He knew what he was doing was for the best, as long as he had his people in his corner, it was okay. Obie would come around, once he saw the ideas Tony had for the future of SI. They were going to scrap the weapons entirely and move into more commercial markets like phones and tablets. He was going to bring in the big money through new ideas in green technology; saving the planet was a worthy cause, surely.

“Positive. I can’t let us keep doing weapons production if this is what’s happening with them.” He paused; mind flashing back to the sight of the company’s, _his_ company’s, logo on the side of those bombs and rockets in enemy hands.

_How the fuck did that even happen?_

“It wasn’t even just me, Darc. My weapons killed good, honest soldiers. The Stark name was written all over the sides of those bombs. God,” he closed his eyes, hands clenching into fists. “Some of those kids would have been your age. I can’t, I just,” he broke off as he pushed a hand through his hair in frustration, his throat tight.

“It’s okay. You know I’ll stand by whatever you think is best for the company… You might want to steer clear from Rhodey and Obie for a while, though. I think your announcement just about gave both of them a heart attack.” Amusement coloured her voice for a moment.

Tony felt her reach out and grasp his uninjured hand, her grip tight, solid, grounding.

“It’ll be okay, Obie knows about the arc reactor. That should keep his attention for a while.” Tony sighed as well as he could with aching ribs. It had been a bargaining chip, a band-aid to a gaping wound. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Obie became demanding of more than just the knowledge of what Tony had been able to do. He would want the process, patented and in production. It was a gold mine, a forever battery some might say. Any business savvy person would be crazy not to want to market it.

Tony was pretty sure though, at this point, he couldn’t be described as completely sane.

“I’m so glad you’re home. I… I wouldn’t of known what to do if-if you hadn’t of…” Darcy’s voice was no louder than a whisper as she trailed off. Tony squeezed her hand tightly, her legs trembling slightly under his head.

“I missed you.” He whispered.

“Yeah, you too. You even missed your birthday.” She let out a hiccupped laugh. “And introducing me to Jarvis properly. We had quite the encounter when I first got here.”

“An error that has since been corrected, I assure you, Sir.” Jarvis’s voice filled the room.

“He would only accept my clearance to entre the house after I gave him the password. A password I didn’t even know.” She sounded amused more than annoyed.

“You figured it out, though.” Tony said confidently, knowing there was no other way she could find it amusing than if she’d worked it out.

“It took a few tries but, eventually, I worked it out.” She agreed.

Tony smiled; feeling something like relaxed for the first time in months. They sat in silence, the house quiet around them, only the distant sounds of the Malibu beach reaching their ears.

“Things are going to change, Darc.” He began slowing, choosing his words. “There will be a hell of a lot of people unhappy and looking for me to fail. Maybe, if you want, maybe you should stay in Virginia for a while?”

“No,” she snapped, voice suddenly loud, and Tony could tell there was a frown on her face without even looking.

“Just a suggestion.” He said lightly, a small part of him relieved at her loyalty to him while another winced at the crap she was sure to have to put up with because she was his sister.

“A stupid one.” Her voice was firm.

“I’m a genius, nothing I say is stupid.” He reiterated the old argument.

“Oh, Tony,” she sighed, fond exasperation in her tone. “You’re the biggest idiot I know.”

Tony snorted, ignoring the twinge of pain that caused, as the two lapsed once more into silence. He reached up and tapped lightly on the arc reactor, his mind turning over how he was going to improve it now that he had access to the best equipment money could buy - and some of it that only a genius could create. There was no way in hell he was keeping such an outdated piece of tech in his body for longer than he already had.

“Right, let’s get to work then.”

*

“When you said there was going to be a whole lot of trouble coming our way, this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

Tony froze where he was sitting, the news coverage he’d been watching on the glass screens belaying his guilt. Turning slowly, his eyes found Darcy standing at the door to his workshop. She was looking around the semi-destroyed area, uncaring for the shards of glass on the floor beneath her shoes as she began walking over to him.

“What were you expecting?” He asked, honestly curious.

“Oh, some backlash from shareholders, uncertainty from the board, you to pull some brilliant idea out of that head of yours.” She shrugged, a small, self-deprecating smile on her face. “Seems I overestimated you.”

“This is a brilliant idea, Darc.” Tony said, serious.

“No,” she shook her head. “This is you feeling guilty and jumping on the plan which results in the most immediate action. You just about gave Pepper a heart attack when she came in before and now she’s upstairs ranting to Jarvis about the bullet holes.” Her eyes narrowed on the pieces of armor she could see about the room. Tony winced remembering Pepper’s look of shock when she’d seen them when he’d first arrived back from taking out that syndicate in Afghanistan.

“Not to mention Rhodey’s angry phone call where I got to listen to him going on about you flying unregistered in American airspace.” She raised an eyebrow at him, a look remarkably reminisce of Pepper’s usual one.

“You could have been seriously hurt, Tony.”

“I’m fine.” He waved her off, adjusting the icepack on his shoulder.

“But what if you’re not, next time?”

“I will be. I have to do this.”

“What about SI?”

“This is all there is right now, Darcy! There’s me, the suit and making this right.” Tony growled, frustration in his voice as he stood to pace, agitation making him tense.

“No, it’s not. You’re just refusing to see that going all lone wolf in Afghanistan - of all God-forsaken places - may not be the best course of action.”

“Dammit, Darcy!” Tony whirled around, furious. “You don’t understand. That was my name on those weapons. All the innocent people who were killed or hurt because of me and what I’d created; what I’ve let slip through my fingers because of my willingness to ignore the hard parts, the difficult decisions, the things I said were too boring for me to bother with.” Deflating, Tony sighed and ran a hand through his sweaty hair as he sat leaning against one of the desks.

Darcy moved the rest of the way across the room, closing the space between them so that she could lean against the desk beside him, their shoulders resting against one another.

“It was our name, Tony. I know I don’t really have much to do with the company or anything, and I go by mum’s maiden name for school and stuff, but it was still my name on those bombs too. I mean; you’re my brother and they were your life’s work so I get that you’re having a massive guilt trip right now. But do you really believe that this is the only way to fix things?”

He remained silent and she eventually sighed.

“I’m not saying that the armor isn’t great, because it’s pretty awesome and I’m a little jealous.” She bumped their shoulders together again, and Tony could feel that familiar warmth he always experienced when she was proud of his creations in his chest.

“I just think that you should slow it down a bit. One problem at a time. First, work out who tried to hurt you. Then, once we’ve taken care of them, we’ll see about hunting down the weapons.”

Tony closed his eyes, frustration returning.

He loved his sister, but there was no way she could ever understand this. It was his fault – no matter what she said – it was his entire fault. He had allowed those weapons to get into the wrong hands and now innocent people had been killed because of his negligence. He had spent all that time in the cave, with Yinsen a constant reminder of his foolishness. There was no way he would ever be able to atone for all the blood on his hands, but he could definitely do something about stopping anyone else from winding up dead because of him.

“They’re the same thing, Darc. Those weapons are time sensitive…” He said quietly, feeling exhausted trying to make her understand.

“But, I do have something I need you to do.” He pulled away from her and stood, reaching on his desk for a usb drive.

“Take Pepper and go to my office at SI.” He carefully explained what he needed her to do as he passed her the drive.

He didn’t want to believe it, but the way Obie had been acting, how he’d gotten him all but kicked out by the board of directors. The subtle differences between how the man acted now as to how he’d been prior to Tony’s kidnapping. There was something definitely fishy going on with Obie and Tony was pretty sure whatever it was would be on that computer.

“Just don’t do anything reckless, okay, Tony? I just got my brother back, I’d hate to loose him again.” Darcy clutched at the drive tightly in her hand, face still troubled, before leaving the room with a crunch of glass under her shoes.

*

Oh, God.

It was worse than Tony had ever thought possible.

His suspicions had been nothing compared to the reality of the situation. To have it confirmed had been horrifying enough, but for the full truth to have been revealed to him about the man who had always been there for him, more often than his own father. The man he’d placed his own trust and the shared responsibility of raising, of protecting, his baby sister.

Fucking hell.

The bastard was responsible for selling his weapons under the counter to America’s enemies. He was the sonofabitch who’d ordered the hit on him in Afghanistan. He was the immoral bastard who hadn’t cared how many people, how many _innocent_ people, were killed as long as he was pocketing the money for it.

The bastard had the sheer nerve to paralyze him with his own invention, threaten both Darcy and Pepper, the two most important women in his life, and finally to rip the arc reactor out of his chest. He was going to get to the spare in the workshop, no matter how hard it was to move or how agonizing it was as the little bits of shrapnel sliced into him, heading for his heart.

Tony was going to kill him.

It didn’t matter that Obadiah (not Obie, never that name again) had guided him for the last ten plus years. No one, and Tony meant not a living or even a non-living being, was going to threaten someone he cared about.

Tony had enough blood from strangers on his hands, there was no way in hell that he was adding his loved ones to those ranks. No way in hell. He would find wherever Stane had taking his arc reactor, and he’d take the man himself out in the process.

Stane had to die. There was no other logical way around this. Tony had done the math, run the numbers, and this was the only outcome that kept both Darcy and Pepper safe.

Tony had done the God-dam, motherfucking math.

And Tony Stark’s math was never wrong.

*

“You gotta stop doing this to me, Tones.” Darcy’s voice was soft, only the familiar hum of machines surrounded them as they sat on the old couch in the workshop, the area lit only by the glass screens littered about the workshop.

“I’m sorry, but I won’t stop.” Tony’s voice was equally as soft, staring at his semi-destroyed workshop rather than his sister.

After the fight with Stane, after telling Coulson of SHIELD the barest details of what had happened and listening to Nick Fury - director of SHIELD - propose the idea of something called the Avengers Initiative, and then finally convincing both Pepper and Rhodey that he was fine, Tony just wanted to rest for a bit. Hand coming up to touch his arc again, he knew it would become a tic for him after the horror of having it ripped from his very chest while he was paralyzed on the couch. It would no doubt be replayed behind his eyelids every time he went more than a few minutes without touching it.

Finally, he was as alone as he was able to get, back in his lab where Dummy, You and Butterfingers had attempted to clean up the broken glass on the floor from the smashed case.

He could still feel the adrenaline in his veins and his heart was yet to return to the skipping beat that had become the norm ever since his body modification.

“I know. Once you get an idea in your head, you’re like a dog with a bone.” She sighed, her jeans were slightly singed and dirt smeared her top, Dummy’s head in her lap and restless fingers ran up and down his support strut, a familiar action to them both after years of repetition.

“Just promise me you’ll be more careful, then. Can you do that?”

Tony shuffled closer to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his chest, Dummy awkwardly sandwiched between them.

“I’ll try.”

She lifted her free hand and clasped him around the waist.

“Don’t let me loose you, too.” She whispered, sending a sharp stab of pain to his heart that had nothing to do with the arc.

“I love you.” Was all he could say, knowing that any kind of promise he could made that would make her feel better would be nothing more than a lie on his tongue.

“Love you, too.”

Tony now had a job to do, a purpose that was more than just looking after his little sister and making sure that the world was kept at arms length from her. He knew, without even reviewing those files Pepper and Darcy had stolen about Stane from the office computer, that there would be numerous weapons for him to track down and destroy. Thousands of lives he could save if he got to them before the black market dealers had a chance to try out the destructive creations of his. He had a second chance at life, and he wasn’t about to waste it.

**_2010_ **

“Tony, seriously?” Darcy trailed after him, her dark purple dress fluttering about her ankles.

“Darc, come on. Live a little.” Tony waved a hand dismissively, before idly fixing a cufflink.

“Tony!” She reached out and grabbed his arm, causing them both to come to a stop, people rushing around behind the scenes of the Stark Expo forced to go around them. Tony finally looked back at her and found a small smile curved his lips unbidden. She looked so grown-up in a beautiful dress that probably revealed more of her cleavage than he felt was necessary, but he knew she’d merely roll her eyes and do her own thing even if he mentioned it. He found it hard to believe sometimes that she was already twenty, almost a full adult and thinking about what she was going to do with her future. It was like only yesterday that she was a little kid and asking for his help on how to correctly write her alphabet letters.

Turning around fully, he reached out for her shoulders and leaned in close so that their foreheads almost touched.

“Darcy, just try to enjoy yourself, will you? This isn’t quite the crisis situation that you seem to want to make this into.” He suddenly gave her a mock-serious look as a thought occurred to him.

“Have you and Pepper been comparing notes again?”

She couldn’t seem to help but laugh before playfully pushing him away.

“You can hardly blame us. You’ve spent all your time since you came out as Iron Man, superheroing around and saving the world. Then you suddenly decide to chuck together a Stark Expo like dad did back in the day? Even for you, Tony, this is pretty erratic behaviour.”

Tony blinked at her for a moment in surprise at her observation before pulling a face.

“I still really hate that you still hang around that McGee kid. Always up in my business.” He muttered, remembered the last time he’d seen the kid and had been forced to ‘accidentally’ knock the kids recorder off the table and stomp on it when he’d said something without realising the stupid thing was on. Kid was going to be a real J. Jonah Jameson at the rate he was going.

“Tony! Jack’s an aspiring reporter, what do you expect when he comes over?”

“You only like him because he’s seen the Hulk.” Tony muttered with a roll of his eyes.

She gave him an exasperated roll of her own.

“So would have I if I hadn’t of been in Malibu at the time.” She poked him in the chest, hard.

He smiled sheepishly, knowing that things had been up in the air with the whole Iron Man and Stane thing when Doctor Banner had decided to return to Culver University. If Darcy had still been at uni, not taking time off because he was kidnapped in Afghanistan and then creating Mark I Iron Man, she probably would have seen the green giant.

“Well, anyway, I thought you could use this as a networking opportunity. I know you don’t want to get into any kind of hard science, but it never hurts - in a political respect, which is kinda your degree - to know the people who crank the motor for the human race’s progress forwards.”

Darcy started groaning before Tony could even finish.

“You are the most ridiculous brother on the face of the Earth.” She kissed his cheek and turned away, unable to completely hide the smile on her face from him.

“Go find some poor soul who’ll take you on for those credits I know you’re still missing!” He called at her retreating back with a real smile on his face.

The smile faded entirely, however, when Tony made it to the bathroom and pulled out his rectangular blood toxicity reader. Feeling the small pinch in his thumb, followed by the evidence of the rising level of poison in his blood stream, caused his heart to clench. Falling forwards onto the sink, he stared at his reflection as emotions warred within him.

Why was it that the moment he’d finally found something good, a way that he could make a real difference, he was faced with imminent death? He wasn’t a religious man by any stretch of the imagination, but he had believed he’d gotten the arc reactor for a reason, that he’d gone through the hell that was Afghanistan and Stane’s betrayal to come out stronger on the other side. His life now had a clear direction and when the time came, he could leave a legacy to Darcy that she could be proud of.

He was only just getting started and it seemed that it was already almost over.

The sudden bang of the bathroom door opening caused Tony to quickly stand up straight, slipping his toxicity device into his pocket and straightening his suit as he eyed his reflection. Pasting on his public smile, he stepped back outside and immersed himself in the social scene of the Expo.

*

Nothing he tried was working. Every element he attempted was ve-toed by Jarvis as unstable or unsuitable. Staring at his latest blood toxicity result, Tony once again wracked his brain, trying to find the loophole he needed that had thus far eluded him. After everything, there had to be something left for him to try. He wasn’t the type of person to accept defeat lying down.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs alerted him to company and he quickly hid the Palladium poisoning stats from sight on his glass screen before picking up his cup of nutrients - termed goop for its green sludgy appearance.

“Alright, Tony. I’m going so why’re you hiding down here.” Darcy was a whirl of energy as she came into the workshop with a quick press of numbers, nervousness hidden behind excitement.

“You’re going to a tiny town in New Mexico. It’s hardly the other side of the globe.” Tony teased her gently.

“I’ll be in a tiny town no one’s ever heard of, spending my nights staring up at the stars.” She couldn’t hold in the smile.

“I’m sure you’ll have an amazing time. If nothing else, Doctor Foster and Doctor Selvig seem like good people.” Tony smiled as he looked at his sister, the dark reality of his short future weighing heavily on his mind.

“Oh, so they passed the background checks you got Jarvis to conduct the moment I decided to get my credits with them?” She raised her eyebrows at him as her attention was spilt between Tony and Dummy, the latter who had come over for attention as soon as she was in the workshop.

“With flying colours.” Jarvis spoke up, not allowing Tony to try and deny it.

“Tattletale.” Tony sighed. “I wanted to ask you something, actually.” He continued after a beat of quiet, only Dummy’s beeps and Darcy’s quiet cooing filling the space.

“Hmm?”

“I was thinking, I’ve never been really interested in the whole CEO shtick in the company and, well, Pepper basically runs things anyway. I’d much rather run the R and D division. But I wanted to know if you’d be opposed, or want the job yourself, before I do anything, so…”

Darcy’s face showed she was not following him at all, Dummy butting at her stilled hand impatiently.

“What? What’re you saying, Tony?”

“I’m thinking about making Pepper CEO of SI, unless you have any objections?”

“But… I thought you loved working as head of SI?”

“I do like it, but Pepper does most of the stuff the CEO should. I just sign the papers when she tells me to, go to the fancy parties she says I need to be seen at and spend the rest of my time doing R and D stuff.” Tony said, plainly.

He had been thinking about this for months now. Admittedly he probably would have approached it much more slowly and progressively, but as he was on a bit of a time limit these days, he figured that this was something Darcy wouldn’t want to have to be burdened with if the worst should happen.

“Oh.” Darcy stared off at nothing as Tony observed her.

“If you want to be in charge, I’ll arrange it that Pepper be only temporary while you finish up your education and get trained up for the CEO position. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.” Tony offered when she remained silent.

“What? No, I’m not really interested in running SI anytime soon.” Darcy rejected the offer.

“Well… What do you think, then? Of me stepping down from the CEO position.” Tony asked.

“It’s… It’s a pretty big decision to just suddenly come out with.” She finally said, a small frown still on her face.

“But, if it’s what you really want, do it.” She shrugged, looking at him directly.

Tony smiled as he stood, putting the cup of goop down before moving over to her and enveloping her in his arms. She was warm and familiar, the closest thing the home he had ever had. The traitorous part of his mind cruelly wondered how many times he had left, if this would be one of the last times he’d get to hold his little sister in his arms.

He forcefully shut the voice up.

“This isn’t because of the government trying to take away the armor, is it?” She asked quietly.

“No, nothing to do with that.” Tony reassured her. “This is something I’ve been thinking about for a while, now.”

“Well, okay then.”

“Sir? Young Miss?” Jarvis suddenly interrupted them.

“Yeah, what’d you need, Jarvis?” Tony asked, pulling away from her and moving back over to his desk.

“Miss Potts wishes to remind Miss Darcy that she has a plane to catch shortly and that she refuses to allow her to use the private jet if she can’t get there in time for her flight.”

“Technically it’s my private jet.” Tony huffed, amused and knowing if Pepper said no then it wasn’t going to happen.

“Pepper’s so mean.” Darcy whined loudly with a huge, put-upon sigh.

“You’d better get going… here.” Tony rummaged on the desk for a moment before picking up two small, compact machines and throwing them over to her.

He watched as she caught them, looked them over individually for a moment, before a huge smile broke out on her face.

“Did you make me an Iron Man coloured taser and a new MP3 Player?” She grinned at him.

“Red and gold just happen to be awesome colours. And it’s a Stark Player, I figured it was time we started expanding into commercial markets.” He shrugged, a small smile stretching across his face at her obvious delight.

“Totally awesome, big bro.” She let out a small laugh before quickly ducking over to him for a short, tight, hug.

“I’ll miss you. I promise to post lots of pictures on Facebook and give me a ring when Pepper tries to fire you for being a flakey head of R and D.” She said cheekily before slipping away from him to the door.

“Stay safe.” He called softly as he watched her feet disappear up the stairs, leaving him in his workshop.

What was he going to do?

*

Justin Hammer.

Tony hated that guy. Not only was he the slimiest, most disgustingly useless man on earth, but he’d somehow gotten it into his head that Darcy was interested in him. Darcy had met him twice, both times she’d avoided making a scene because Tony had pulled her away to dance when she’d been about to say something scathing. Tony was positive that if the idiot ever tried anything on Darcy, she’d kick him so hard in the balls he’d never be able to reproduce… which wouldn't actually be such a bad thing.

He was a dying man, for gods’ sake, Tony shouldn’t be subjected to the idiot of the century. No amount of pleading with Pepper got him out of it either, secretly he thought she liked to torture him by putting him in situations where he was surrounded by idiots. To be fair, though, with all the crap he put her through it was probably completely justified.

Listening to the pretentious dick talking about his upcoming news spread with a journalist who was clearly more interested in talking to the new CEO Pepper Potts, was somewhat amusing, at least. But Pepper leaving him alone allowed his mind to wander and, eyes catching sight of the television in which they could watch the car race, an idea occurred to him.

It was a stupid, foolhardy idea that was bound to get him yelled at later on. Pepper would be furious with him, the public would once again be gossiping about what a reckless playboy he could be and if Darcy saw it she’d probably just glare.

Tony decided he was definitely going to be entering that race.

*

Natalie Rushman was secret agent spy Natasha Romanov. Of-fucking-course she was. 

He had known from the moment he’d met her that there was something not quite right about her. No way was a woman that beautiful and badass aspiring to be a mere personal assistant. Tony would have dedicated more brainpower to trying to figure her out if it wasn’t for the fact he was fairly focused on trying to find a way to not die. That, and the fact that Darcy had called the other day and left a very disturbing message about a man named Thor - and seriously, who the fuck names their kid _Thor_ \- and how Coulson had shown up and confiscated all Doctor Foster’s research and Darcy’s StarkPlayer.

“He took the StarkPlayer, Tony! My StarkPlayer! Is nothing sacred to those government agent swindlers?”

So, distracted.

After his party of bad decisions based upon more bad decisions – Pepper was never going to let him live that one down – finding out she was actually Agent Natasha Romanov of SHIELD was something of a relief, really. If he hadn’t of been so hungover he’d have been tempted to hit on her just for the rush of near death experience. As it stood, he was close enough to death that he hadn't bothered.

*

Tony was ready to lie down on the couch and sleep for a month. It had been a rough couple of weeks, made worse by Vanko, the government trying to get his Iron Man suits and then SHIELD sticking its nose in - not that Tony was upset he had been saved, he just would’ve liked to have figured out the cure himself. He was just getting his wish, sitting down on the couch, when Jarvis altered him to an incoming call from his sister.

“I know, I know, this kind of stuff is usually _your_ thing. But I’m okay – we’re all okay. So, don’t panic!” Darcy blurted out as soon as the call was answered.

Tony found his lagging body sitting up straight, alert once more.

“What?”

There was silence for a moment; Tony could almost hear Darcy thinking.

“You haven’t seen the news, have you?” She asked slowly, cautiously.

“Clearly, neither have you.” Tony answered.

“Why? What happened?” She asked, distracted.

“Oh no,” he leaned forward to grab one of the glass tablets and linked onto the phone call so that he could see her. His eyes narrowed as they took in her oddly dusty appearance. “What exactly have you gotten yourself into?” He demanded.

She looked like she might argue with him for a moment before seeming to give in.

“Well, you remember how I sent you that photo of that weird guy I may or may not have tased?” She asked slowly.

“I thought you hit him with a car?” Tony asked dryly.

“No, technically that was Jane who hit him, I was just behind the wheel.” She automatically retaliated.

“Darcy.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m getting there. Well, perhaps the reason that he was such a werido wasn’t anything to do with him being one of those hipster kids. He may have been an alien.” She concluded, with the air of someone who’d presented a perfectly logical argument.

Tony’s mind literally blanked for a moment. The data was not computing at all.

“What.”

“Alien. Extraterrestrial. He’s from another planet. ET phone home, only if ET was hot as fuck.” She grinned.

Part of Tony’s brain was stuck on the word alien and the ridiculousness of it all. The other part of his brain was a kid who loved the idea of alien life and alien technology and was currently squealing and jumping up and down in excitement.

“What?” He said again.

“Yeah, I was surprised as well. Turns out all his talk of other realms and Midgard - which is apparently what his people call Earth - wasn’t so much fiction as fact. He left in this weird tunnel of light, sort of like beam me up Scotty, but more badass.” Darcy waved her hand as she spoke, like the idea of Star Trek wasn’t even on the same level as the stuff she’d actually witnessed.

“Only you,” Tony sighed loudly, feeling a little hopelessly fond. “Only you could go to a tiny town in the middle of no where and end up encountering an alien.”

“Yeah, about that whole town thing…” she said slowly. “Apparently there was a whole sibling fight for the throne - he was an alien prince – which resulted in his brother sending this giant medieval knight looking thing that shot out jets of fire and ended up leveling the town.”

“Fucking hell, Darcy. Are Doctor Foster and Selvig okay?” Tony, who had begun to relax, sat up straight once more, eyes widening.

“Oh yeah they’re fine. Selvig had a drinking contest with Thor and won a massive hangover. Jane and Thor are totally sweet on each other; it’s like something out of a Nicholas Sparks movie. You know who else I saw recently?” she continued before he could get a word in edgeways. “Coulson was down here, remember, he took my StarkPlayer? He still hasn’t given it back, Tony.”

Out of every thing she’d said thus far, this was the one thing she seemed to be particularly upset about. Apparently encounters of the alien kind didn’t bother her as much as not being able to listen to her music when she fancied.

“I worry that you’re mostly concerned about your music playlist rather than the danger you were in.”

“Oh, please, like you never get into sticky situations? Besides, it wasn’t even really anything to do with me. It was mostly everyone else. I was just kind of… there.” She waved a hand flippantly.

Her eyes suddenly narrowed at him.

“Speaking of being there, I’ve told you my story, what’s yours? Am I going to have to Google you to find out?” She demanded.

“No. No Googleing. We agreed that you get to test out new Stark Tech as long as you never, ever, use it to Google me.”

“Spill, Tony.” She said seriously, and Tony let out a quiet sigh before he explained the whole situation.

Turned out, prefacing your story of potentially life threatening illness and stupidity with ‘everything’s okay now, so no need to worry’ didn’t actually do anything other than piss Darcy off. He spent the next hour being lectured and yelled at by his sister, her outbursts derailing occasionally when she shouted about how she was going to kick Rhodey’s ass when she next saw him. Her worry for his safety was the only thing that kept him sitting there and listening.

In the end, Tony managed to establish a series of facts within his mind.

Firstly, he would never, not even under pain of death, admit that SHIELD and his own father were key factors in him figuring out how to save himself. Also, SHIELD could go screw themselves over their personality evaluation and only wanting him to consultant with them. They could complain about him all they wanted, but everyone knew he held the real power as if he stopped supplying them with all their little gadgets, who else were they going to turn to? Fury liked to think he had more power than he actually had, from what Tony had been able to learn via hacking into SHIELD’s systems. Tony was content for now not to challenge the decision made, he had more important things to worry about than some super secret boy band.

Secondly, he would go to his grave with the knowledge that Aldrich was exactly what he could have become, if he hadn’t of had Darcy. Yes, the money was certainly a factor in there somewhere, but he was positive that without Darcy, his life would have been a lot closer to supervillain than superhero.

Thirdly, getting one up on a government official dick never got old.

Lastly, and most importantly, he fucking hated Justin Hammer.

**_2012_ **

Sometimes, Tony enjoyed being a genius.

The Tower was a beautiful sight to see; a glowing beacon of what the future for clean energy would be like if Tony got his way.

“How does it look?” Darcy asked, the small image of her showing an anticipated smile on the hud screen before him.

“Like Christmas, only with more me.” He smirked; pleased with the eye roll he received.

“We’ve got to go wider on the public awareness campaign.” Pepper gently pushed Darcy from the frame, excitement also visible on her face as she began rapidly firing off ideas and lists of what they’d have to do in the near future.

“I’m in DC tomorrow,” she continued. “I’m working on the zoning-”

“Oh, DC!” Darcy appeared back in the frame, this time cutting Pepper off as she grabbed hold of the woman’s arm and leaned slightly into the screen. “Can I go? It’s been ages since I was last in DC.”

“You just want to go to the Smithsonian and perv on the Captain America memorabilia.” Tony said knowingly.

“Well, duh.” She didn’t even bother lying. “You’re just jealous.”

Tony landed on the balcony platform at the Tower, the spinning discs that removed his armor activating immediately. As he began the walk, Jarvis suddenly piped up in his ear.

“Sir, Agent Coulson from SHIELD is on the line.”

“I’m not in.” He said immediately. “I’m actually out.”

“He’s insisting, Sir.”

“Grow a spine, Jarvis. It’s time to celebrate.” Tony said as he walked inside, heading over to where Pepper was pouring out three glasses of Champagne.

“It looks like it’s all working.” Darcy offered to him as he passed her, eyes tracking the holoscreens that displayed the positive results of the buildings power grid.

“Of course it’s working, I built it.” He grinned when she followed him over to the Champagne with a long-suffering sigh,

“Anyway,” he turned to Pepper. “Here’s to us, us three, celebrating the future of clean energy.” He lifted his own flute, waited a moment for the two women to mimic him, and they clinked the glasses lightly together in a toast.

“Sir, the telephone.” Jarvis interrupted, voice now sounding exasperated.

“Jarvis, really.”

“I’m afraid my protocols are being overridden.”

“Mister Stark, we need to talk.” Agent Phil Coulson’s voice suddenly sounded over the phone. Tony pulled a face, causing Darcy to let out a small laugh, before he reached over the picked it up his StarkPhone. Holding it before him so he could see Phil’s face, Tony finally spoke to him.

“You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark.”

“Tony!” Darcy swatted at his arm.

“This is urgent.” Phil ignored the sibling byplay.

“Then leave it urgently.” Tony snipped.

It was all for nothing, however, as the next instant the elevator doors opened, revealing the man in question in his usual neatly pressed dark suit.

“Security breach.” Tony exclaimed, before shooting Pepper a look. “This is worse than all those sweaty workmen you had using my private elevator.”

“Mister Stark,” Phil said smoothly, putting away his phone like everything was normal and he hadn’t just essentially broken into Tony’s brand new Tower.

“Phil! Come in.” Pepper turned to him with a welcoming smile. “Have some Champagne.”

“Hey, Coulson.” Darcy offered the agent a small wave before taking another sip of Champagne.

“‘Phil’?” Tony mocked.

“I can’t stay.” Phil ignored him, which was just rude considering Tony was pretty sure he hadn’t come to talk to either Pepper or Darcy.

“His first name is ‘Agent’.” Tony followed after Pepper as she approached the agent.

“We need you to look over this as soon as possible.” Phil held out a large electronic folder.

Feeling mildly miffed that all the attention in the room had been so easily taken by Coulson after Tony’s amazing feat - he’d managed to power an entire tower with clean energy, that was impressive people - he screwed his nose up.

“I don’t like being handed things.” He protested, just to be difficult.

“That’s fine, because I love to be handed things. So, let’s trade.” Pepper said smoothly ignoring his behaviour as usual, swapping her Champagne flute for the folder, before taking Tony’s glass and pushing the file into his hands, making him take it lest he drop it. “Thank you,” she said, taking a sip of his drink.

Tony made sure she saw the exasperated look on his face as Darcy laughed in the background where she’d sat, hanging over the back of the couch like she was watching an exciting reality tv drama unfold.

“Official consulting hours are between eight and five, on every other Thursday.” He tried protesting again, just on principle now more than anything, he couldn’t completely deny that his interest had been quipped by the file.

“Is this about the Avengers?” Pepper asked curiously. “Which I know nothing about.” She added at the look Phil shot her. Tony wasn’t sure why the man was surprised, he always discussed ridiculous ideas with Pepper - Fury’s meetings always leading to numerous hours of cross examination between them and a bottle of Screaming Eagle Cabernet Savingon. Tony believed it was an appropriate choice. 

“Oh, Avengers stuff!” Darcy was up and off the couch faster than Tony had expected, as he suddenly had a familiar shadow following him over to the stand of screens he’d set up off to the side.

“The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought.” Tony commented as he easily sidestepped his sister. “And I didn’t even qualify.” He looked over at Phil, ignoring the sting he still felt over that. It wasn’t that he’d wanted to be a part of the super secret boy band Fury was putting together, but it would have been more fun if he’d refused rather than been told he couldn’t join even if he’d wanted to.

“I didn’t know that either.” Pepper continued her bold face lying, as if Phil was even listening to her anymore.

“Apparently I’m volatile, narrowly focused and don’t play well with others.”

“That I did know.” Pepper let amusement creep into her voice.

“When did you have time to get a shrinks assessment of you?” Darcy asked with a snort.

Tony may have neglected to mention Natasha Romanov’s very revealing assessment of him, not so much for the things he believed himself to be, but the things she’d missed.

“This isn’t about personality profiles anymore.” Phil said.

Tony let out a hum as he fiddled with the electronic file, keying it into his system so that Jarvis could extract the information for him.

“This might be serious. Coulson doesn’t look so good.” Darcy said quietly from her place at his side.

Glancing at Coulson and noting the unusual degree of tension that seemed to radiate from the man, Tony flicked his fingers outward, trusting Jarvis to bring the files various key points on the holoscreens before him. Originally he’d designed this area so that he could get some sunlight while working, Pepper and Darcy had both been after him about being a nocturnal, albino hermit for months now and this was his way of appeasing them.

“Oh my god.” Darcy whistled lowly, eyes going from screen to screen. “Hey, it’s big green!” She pointed her Champagne flute towards where footage of the Hulk could be seen attacking Ross’s men with the sonic cannon from a few years ago.

Tony looked from screen to screen, not willing to admit even to himself that, whatever it was Phil was bringing to him, it was big.

“Isn’t that Captain America?” Darcy suddenly asked, eyes staring at the screen in the middle. Tony’s eyes snapped over to it, his breath catching in his throat.

Captain America, Steve Rogers, the only successful recipient of the super soldier serum. Good god. If he was in this file then, that meant, they’d found him. They’d found the literal living legend and he was apparently still kicking. Those bastards had found him and not reported it. Heads would roll when Tony got to them, he’d been spending millions on that search each year, apparently not looking for a ghost but putting money in people’s pockets.

“Tony, I’m going to take the jet to DC tonight.” Pepper suddenly said, pulling Tony from the images before him. Looking over, he could see she’d set her flute down on a table, her eyes flickering between the holoscreens continually.

“Aww, Pepper.” Darcy sighed loudly.

“You’ve got a lot of homework to do, and I know you’ll just get underfoot.” She added the latter part pointedly to Darcy.

Knowing there was no way of arguing with that tone of voice, he pulled his sister into a side hug and kissed the top of her head.

“Fly safe.” He said quietly, before stealing her Champagne flute.

“Hey,” she frowned at him.

“Come on, Darcy. Work hard, Tony.” Pepper gave him her own short hug and received a quick kiss to the cheek before the two women moved towards the elevator with Phil, who had been waiting patiently.

“So, any chance you’re diving by LaGuardia?” Pepper asked him as Tony watched them go.

“I can drop you both.” Phil said agreeably.

“Fantastic.” Pepper’s voice came as Tony turned back to the screens.

“Hey, any chance I can get my StarkPlayer back?” Darcy questioned.

“Hush, Darcy. I want to hear about the cellist. Is that still a thing?” Pepper shushed her.

“She moved back to Portland.” Phil said mildly, clearly ignoring Darcy’s question.

“What? Boo!” Pepper said emphatically just as the elevator doors closed.

Tucking away what he had heard for later, Tony stared at the screens before him, his attention immediately being captured by a glowing cube. Reaching for it, he twisted it one-way and then another, curiosity quipped.

“Jarvis, fire up your ink and quill, this is going to take a while.”

“Of course, Sir. I await your dictation.”

“So sassy.” Tony smiled before getting to work.

*

For once in his life, Tony hadn’t actually meant to be a complete and total asshole when dealing with a celebrity. It was just, something had flicked in his head upon meeting Captain America, and before he knew it they’re been standing together in a tiny jet trading barbs like poison. His brain was calling him a moron, but he couldn’t seem to stop his mouth from spouting out the sarcastic and mocking comments like it was a competition.

Calling the man a ‘Capsicle' was rude, even if it did hold the ring of truth and amuse him.

Tony tried not to dwell on it, and instead stared at the apparent literal god they had picked up.

“So, you’re the infamous Loki Silver-tongue.” Tony offered a sharp grin to the quiet man. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Stark,” Rogers’s voice was tight, his warning about not liking the situation still in the air between them all.

“Heard more about your brother, but I’ve heard stuff about you, too.” The nasty look Loki shot him confirmed he’d hit a nerve and Tony chuckled.

“Stark!” Rogers barked out. “Fury didn’t tell me he was calling you in.” Tony was positive he could hear frustration in the other mans’ voice.

“Yeah, there’s a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell you.” Tony pointedly glanced back to where Natasha was piloting the jet, the humour leaving him.

The sudden onset storm, coupled with the arrival and departure of Thor and Loki, made them pause their conversation and Tony was happy to leave the Captain behind as he went after the two gods alone.

Thor really was as impressive as Darcy had said he was. Tony would do a lot to be able to study that special little hammer of his. What she’d failed to mention was how ridiculous he looked in his Halloween costume. That, and how much of an ass the man - the god, whatever - was.

After leveling a forest in Germany through Captain America’s refusal to listen to his advice, Tony was more than happy to ditch the two with Loki and Natasha on the Quinjet and fly back the Helicarrier alone.

*

The Helicarrier really was a thing of beauty; Tony would flat out call someone on their lie if they said otherwise. Tucking away his suit in the area he had designed just for this specific purpose, he’d known SHIELD would need to call him in eventually and there was no reason for him to use the crummy, cramped SHIELD recruits storage area. He stepped out of the room and wasn’t entirely surprised to find Phil waiting in the corridor for him.

“They get away okay?” He asked, falling into step with the agent as they headed for the bridge.

“Without a hitch.” Phil said mildly, following along with the conversation with ease.

“Good. Darcy was serous about that StarkPlayer, by the way.” Tony couldn’t keep the amusement off his face. “She’s been complaining about it since you seized it; said you gave Jane back her research, but you’re keeping the StarkPlayer hostage.” He continued, pointedly.

“I’ll see if I can locate it for her.” He agreed with the ease of someone who was going to do no such thing.

“She’ll be thrilled.” Tony snorted. The weird back and froth thing with the StarkPlayer that Darcy and Phil did was a mysterious game that Tony didn’t even pretend to understand. “Now, what’s this I hear about a cellist?” Tony couldn’t keep the grin off his face this time, pleased when the smallest amount of surprise flickered across the agents face.

“She’s moved to Portland.” Phil said quietly.

“Well, go out and see her, surprise her, ladies like that sort of thing.” Tony waved his hand emphatically as he spoke.

“Maybe.” Phil acquiesced as they reached the bridge; now able to hear those of whom Tony supposed Nick Fury had deemed special enough to join the ‘Avengers’ team.

“Iridium… what do they need the iridium for?”

They rounded the corner and Tony could see that the voice had belonged to Doctor Bruce Banner.

“It’s a stabilising agent.” He called out, answering the question, before turning back to Phil.

“I’m just saying, pick a weekend. I’ll fly you out to Portland. Keep love alive.” Phil just offered him a bland smile before pointing off to the side where he was going while Tony continued straight onto the raised platform with a large circular table that the others had congregated around.

“It means that the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD’s last hideout.” Tony seamlessly continued, shoving his hands in his pockets casually as his eyes flickered from person to person, stopping on Thor where amusement tinged his words.

“No hard feelings, Point Break. You’ve got a mean swing. Just as impressive as I’ve heard.” He casually tapped the man’s bicep as he passed. Reaching the central control area, Tony allowed his mouth to keep talking, attracting the attention there as he casually slipped a small chip onto the side of one of the glass screens, giving Jarvis a point to start hacking his way into SHIELD’s system. Tony wasn’t going to be kept in the dark about what the hell Fury was up to, that’s for sure. He was tired of all this ‘need to know’ crap.

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Maria Hill asked snidely from the side.

“Last night.” Tony shot back; fully aware that the woman didn’t like him and had never bothered to cover up her low opinion of him. Something about that made Tony want to like her, but they just weren’t at that stage of their relationship yet. “The packet, Selvig’s notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?” He asked, looking around, half curious if anyone would volunteer an answer, half just enjoying how Maria had to be grinding her teeth in irritation.

Then Doctor Banner spoke up and Tony felt like he’d come home.

“Finally, someone who speaks English.” He walked over to the man, silently admitting that he could now weigh in on Darcy’s rants about how amazing and handsome the good doctor was.

Ignoring the surprisingly sarcastic Captain America, Tony happily shook Banners' hand.

“It’s good to meet you, Doctor Banner. Your work on anti-electronic collisions is unparalleled. And I’m a huge fan of the way you loose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster.” He turned slightly to where Phil was standing off to the side and grinned. “Darc is going to be so jealous.” He laughed as the doctor awkwardly thanked him.

Fury’s fun-killing vibes filled the room and Tony watched as the Director had his little moment. The way Rogers lit up slightly at getting the Wizard of Oz reference was both ridiculous and cute, the former winning out in the war of emotions displayed across Tony’s face. Not wanting to listen to Fury get really worked up, Tony pulled Bruce from the room and off to the lab where they could work in relative peace.

*

Working with Bruce was, simply put, fun. Tony rarely had the opportunity to work with people who were on par with his own intelligence. It wasn’t him being obnoxious or conceited; Tony was simply a genius with the intellect to match the title. While he knew he was probably ahead of the other man in terms of electro-physics and engineering, on gamma radiation the doctor held the largest quantity of knowledge and Tony was content to keep up with him via the papers he’d read and information he’d sourced.

Happily, he extended an invitation for the man to come back to Stark Tower, something he knew they’d both enjoy, as there was nothing better than working on genius level stuff with cutting edge equipment.

“I also happen to have it on good authority that there is someone there who’d love to meet you.” He added, thinking of Darcy’s face if she got to meet the man she’d all but idolised for the past few years. Honestly, the girl had some weird ideas about what made someone worth fangirling over.

Then, because he was Tony Stark and seriously, he just couldn’t help himself, he picked up the small electric pen and lightly jabbed it into the older man’s side.

 _Captain America should be renamed Captain Stick-In-The-Mud_ , Tony thought as he was lectured on proper safety protocols. Seriously, Tony didn’t need this crap from a man who had deliberately disobeyed orders to get where he was in life… Okay, the 70-year sleep had probably been a surprise to Rogers as well, but really. Then he insulted the Tower and, honestly, Tony sternly told his libido to get lost and focus on someone not as infuriating.

Bruce took the blueberry for the offering that it was, Rogers just ignored it like it wasn’t worth his time. Shouldn’t he be appreciative of food offerings, given he’d literally lived through the Great Depression?

This was the man Tony could remember playing super hero’s as with Darcy when they were kids? The expressions ‘never meet your hero’ had never been truer. Tony opted for lying to himself that he didn’t care what the man said, Jarvis would sniff out all of Fury’s little secrets and then he’d show the teachers pet.

Right now, though, he had some tough love for the self-hating doctor to dish out.

“I read all about your accident. That much gamma radiation should have killed you.” He said, watching Bruce carefully.

“So, what you’re saying is that the Hulk…” the man glanced away with a mirthless smile. “The other guy saved my life? That’s nice. It’s a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?”

“I guess we’ll find out.” Tony said softly, moving over to his own screens.

“For what it’s worth, my sister is a huge fan.” He added, causing a sharp inhale from behind him.

“What?”

“My sister,” Tony glanced back at the doctor. “Darcy. She’s a huge fan of yours. She even decided to go to Culver because you were a professor there before, well, everything. She was pretty disappointed when she missed out on your return.” He snorted with laughter. “But, I suppose, she got to meet Thor instead, so she couldn’t complain too much.” He once again glanced over to Bruce, slightly amused by the odd look on Bruce’s face, before offering him a reassuring smile.

“Don’t worry though, you’re still her favourite.”

*

It was almost comical, how quickly things fell apart. The way an argument could escalate to the Helicarrier almost being grounded, how the Hulk was now gone. Thor was gone. Phil was… gone.

The words spewed forth from Rogers were hurtful, designed to hit their target dead-on, no missing it at all. Tony could say with complete honesty, he wasn’t a fan of having his dark thoughts put in the spot light.

The sight of blood smeared Captain America trading cards would forever be engraved in Tony’s mind.

The relief he felt, when he realised just where it was that Loki planned to make his grand attack on Earth, was almost like a physical weight was lifted off his shoulders. Loki would launch his attack in New York City. Darcy was in DC. He almost sank to his knees in relief.

*

“Sir, shall I try Miss Darcy?” Jarvis asked quietly, her picture showing up on the hud’s screen before his eyes.

“Might as well.” Tony would’ve shrugged if he could, voice strained as he pushed the suit for all it was worth, the nuke heavy on his back.

It was hard to believe that the Avengers thing had actually worked, that the six of them had been able to come together in something akin to beautiful cohesion. Tony would… he would’ve liked to have spent more time with those people. They were new, and interesting, and despite the mostly awful start they’d had, he was pretty sure that he would have liked to get to know them better. He already had a grudging respect for Romanov, and listening to Darcy’s stories about Thor and Bruce, made liking them easier (even if Thor was pigheaded). Even Barton had his good points, despite the very short amount of interaction Tony’d had with him.

Rogers… in a situation where death seemed pretty fucking immanent, Tony could admit that despite the fact he was pretty sure Rogers hated him and the man had hit him right where it verbally hurt, Tony still thought he was crazy hot. That, and Rogers seemed to actually, genuinely be trying to do what was right, which was pretty rare these days.

“Tony!” Darcy’s frantic voice suddenly filled his ears.

“Hey, Darc.” Tony couldn’t help the small smile that lifted his lips at the sound of her voice.

It wasn’t often that they talked on the phone, not video chatting like usual. Tony refused to feel guilty for the sense of relief he felt that she wasn’t going to witness this. He was free to stare at the picture he had of her on the hud without worrying about what his own face looked like.

It was been a silly photo, taken in a moment of candor when Darcy had been at Malibu with him a few months ago. She had been baking in the kitchen, Tony had walked through and stuck his finger in the cake batter, not realising that he still had motor oil on it and thus getting oil in the batter. Darcy had yelled at him, before throwing a handful of flour at him in retaliation. They’d ended up in a food fight, getting batter, flour and eggs everywhere - Tony hadn’t envied the cleaning crews job and had been sure to slip something extra into their pay-checks that week. In the photo, Darcy was laughing, her dark hair half covered in flour, batter on her left cheek and the remains of an egg staining her shirt. She looked young and happy.

“Tony, oh my god, what the hell is happening in New York? It’s all over the news and they’re saying aliens are attacking and-” Her voice was bordering on hysterical.

“Darcy, listen to me, okay?” Tony said, a touch of urgency in his voice as he got closer and closer to the portal.

“Tony?” Her voice became small; childlike in a way he hadn’t heard it in over a decade.

“I love you.” He blurted out, choosing to stare at the picture of his sister rather than the endlessly gapping hole in the sky.

“Please,” she begged, voice thickening with tears.

“Be good, okay?”

“You promised, Tony.” Darcy whispered.

“I know.” He took a deep breath as he reached the portal.

What else could he say?

What did one say when they were likely to die? Who had planned out words for that kind of thing?

It wasn’t like there was a time when he had sat down and thought about what he would say to his baby sister if this was the last time? It wasn’t like he’d brooded over words, swapped and exchanged various similes and metaphors in an effort to find the perfect thing to say. It wasn’t like he’d had months of not much else to dwell on but what he would say to his sister if there was never anything else he could say-

His mind flashed back to a dank cave in a desert and he knew.

“I’m sorry.”

*

Waking up, ‘scared alive’ as it were, was the most surprising thing to happen to him since the whole Avengers thing had proven to work.

 


	3. We Are (Not) One Big Happy Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is no excuse. I am just late at posting this, exceptionally late.  
> I apologise - profusely.

“Sir, I do not believe that Captain America will appreciate your artistic tastes, in this regard.” Jarvis said dryly, voice lower than usual in respect to the sleeping Darcy on the workshop couch.

Tony blinked, looking at what he had been designing with tired eyes. He had put off working on the Captain’s floor in Stark Tower out of a combination of not knowing where to start and petty annoyance that he still held towards the man after their argument on the Helicarrier. He didn’t want to examine the small part of his mind that whispered about still being _hurt_ by the carelessly tossed words. That and maybe the little bit of guilt lurking in the back of his head for his own words and actions in the face of the man who was all but his childhood hero.

When the Chitauri invasion had been all over, and Loki detained by SHIELD - too late to be of any actual use as normal - the six newly dubbed Avengers had found themselves in a shwarma place that Tony had noticed a few weeks ago but had previously been too busy to visit. Not much was said that afternoon, exchanges and promises to meet again soon saved for the following day when Thor had taken his bat-shit crazy brother and returned to Asgard, along with the Tesseract. Tony had extended an invitation to his Tower for his teammates, that they had a place to stay if they should find themselves in New York again.

The only one who had immediately taken him up on a room was Bruce, who was reluctant to return to SHIELD and had decided that he missed being around working plumbing. Bruce was currently sitting pretty in a penthouse in New York that Tony owned while the Tower itself was undergoing repairs and revamps for the new floors.

Tony, himself, had found his way back to Malibu for the next month. He had some serious work to do if he was going to be ready to move out to New York on a more permanent basis in the coming months. Not to mention, he needed to complete the floor plans for the new living areas for the Avengers. He’d managed to do all of them, a variety of differing ways which he hoped were somewhat liked by the others, with only Captain America’s left to be dressed and furnished.

“Huh,” he cocked his head to the side, slightly chagrined to see that he’d decked out the Captain’s floor thematically with Captain American memorabilia, everything either red, white or blue.

“Perhaps not.” He agreed, scrapping the finishing’s and looking at the empty floor plan once more.

“If I may, Sir?” Jarvis asked, the holoscreen before Tony lighting up brighter as the AI took control and proceeded to dress the area with a simple, slightly old-fashioned finish.

“Hey, that’s not too bad.” Tony murmured, twisting the room around, moving a small table to the other side of the couch and changing the wall colour to a lighter blue-grey than the suggested deep blue. Tony worked quietly for the next few minutes, making small adjustments to Jarvis’s original idea here and there, mind ticking away at how he could mesh the 21st century with what he assumed 1940s Steve Rogers would be more comfortable with in terms of fixtures and technology. In the end, much of the technology, though cutting edge, was hidden away so Steve probably wouldn’t even realise half of it was there.

“Tony?” Darcy’s sleepy voice called out, causing Tony to look over from where he had been sitting on his stool before holoscreens for the past few hours.

“Hey, you awake now?” He asked, rolling over to her where she immediately reached for his hand, giving it a quick, tight, squeeze.

It had been a week since their conversation over the comms, and Darcy was having trouble sleeping. Plagued with nightmares of _that_ conversation, the comfort of the workshop with its familiar whirling and the lights of the bots and technology being the only thing to keep them at bay. Tony wasn’t about to deny her a safe place to sleep, even if it meant he had been doing all his work without his usual deafening decibel of music as company.

“What time is it?” She asked, a hand rubbing at her eyes.

“It is just after eight in the morning, Young Miss” Jarvis helpfully supplied, as Tony had no idea what with there being no windows in the workshop.

“Oh, okay.”

“I’m almost finished up with the new plans for the Tower, how about you get dressed and we go get some breakfast?” Tony offered, smiling encouragingly.

“Yeah, I could go for something to eat.” She nodded, pushing herself to her feet and reaching out to give his hand another small squeeze before releasing it and stretching her arms over her head.

“Great. I’ll see you upstairs in half an hour.” Tony pushed himself back over to the holoscreens with his feet, watching her from the corner of his eyes as she nodded, walking towards the door.

As soon as he was sure she was out of earshot, he sighed.

“Jarivs? Do you think I should get her someone to talk to, or something?” He asked, slumping slightly on his stool.

“I am confident she will return to her normal patterns of behaviour given time. She only baked two cakes yesterday.” Jarvis said.

Darcy’s method for coping with the stress of everything had been to bake her worries away. Needless to say, after the seventh batch of cupcakes and the third tray of cookies, Tony had been sick of sugar and waited until she was asleep before he packed them in containers and sent it all to the local Youth Centre. He was pretty sure after their fifth delivery in as many days, even the workers, who had originally being enthusiastically thankful for the tasty donation, were starting to get strained smiles. He should probably think about sending them something other than sweets, maybe a few fruit baskets and some premium steaks or something?

“Well, that’s improvement, I guess.” He sighed, idly spinning the Captain’s completed room in the air before him.

“You may, however, wish to get to the kitchen before her in an effort to prevent another baking session.” Jarvis suggested.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Send the plans through to the contractors and decorators, will you.” Tony said, saving his work and standing up, back cracking from having been seated for so long.

“Of course, Sir.”

“Great, see you kids later.” He waved to the bots who had been diligently working for a change, receiving a series of beeps in response that made him smile.

He had a baking session to thwart.

*

There was no coffee left in his workshop.

It took Tony a couple of long, slow blinks at the empty coffee machine before this news finally managed to penetrate his brain. Looking around the workshop, with its new glossy tabletops and smudge free glass, he felt a little out of place. The Tower workshop was still very new, only completed three weeks ago, and it had only been ‘in use’ for the last two weeks. The repair work to the Tower was finally finished; it was ridiculous that the damage of one short battle that lasted just under two hours had taken almost two months to repair. Well, the Tower was repaired, some parts of New York were still boarded up, waiting for people to come and fix them thanks to the very generous donations by the Maria Stark Foundation. Why else was Tony the founding member of a charity if not to spend money cleaning up after an attempted extraterrestrial invasion?

“Jarvis, where’s the coffee?” He asked, staring at his empty cup as if that was all that was required to get more.

“Regrettably, Sir, we appear to be out of coffee within the workshop. I am happy to report, however, that the communal kitchen has a plentiful supply of freshly brewed coffee awaiting your consumption.” Jarvis said briskly.

Tony blinked again.

“Kitchen?” He said slowly, the gears in his mind trying to switch tracks from upgrades for the iron man suit, to the location of the kitchen within the Tower.

“Indeed, Sir. Perhaps, if you’re having difficulties remembering the exact location of the kitchen coffee pot, you might considering taking a nap instead of caffeinating?”

Tony snorted.

“I haven’t been up for that long.”

“You have been awake for nearly thirty-seven hours now, Sir. Not quite a record, but getting close.” Honestly, who was it that was teaching his AI to be a snarky so-and-so?

“Well, let’s keep going and try for that new record.” Tony snipped back, getting to his feet and heading for the elevator.

It was a little odd, he supposed as the elevator smoothly rose towards the communal floor for the Avengers in the Tower, to use an elevator as a method of getting from one floor of ones ‘home’ to another. But there was no way Tony was about to attempt getting anywhere with the emergency staircase, that would take significantly longer and definitely cut into his coffee time.

The doors slid open and Tony squinted slightly at the brightness of the sunlight streaming in through the floor to ceiling windows in the spacious lounge area. Rubbing his eyes and yawning, he moved out of the elevator and headed towards the kitchen, the space just hidden behind a short, dividing wall in the lounge. As soon as he was in range, his eyes zeroed in on the coffee pot, mouth almost salivating at the thought of hot fresh coffee. Pouring the dark liquid into a mug he’d snagged off the mostly empty mug rack, he raised it to his mouth and breathed in the delicious scent before taking a sip and letting out the kind of moan that he usually reserved for only the top 10% of his sexual partners.

“God, you’re so good to me. It’s like heaven and Nirvana got together and had a baby of pure bliss. I would marry the person who discovered the coffee bean and thought to make a drink out of it in a heartbeat.” Tony rambled away happily, eyes shut as he leaned a hip against the counter to fully enjoy his drink.

“Would you like us to give you two some privacy?” A voice suddenly asked from behind him.

Slowly opening his eyes and turning around awkwardly as his body refused to stop leaning against the counter - so really, it was more of a roll then turn - Tony belatedly realised he wasn’t quite as alone as he’d thought.

Right, his housemates… or was it _tower_ mates?

Sitting at the large dinning table were the rest of the Avengers. Clint, the one who’d broken Tony out of his coffee induced haze, had raised an eyebrow from where he was sitting, a bowl of cereal held in one hand and a spoon in the other. Natasha was watching him over the top of her own mug of coffee, expression mostly hidden by the porcelain. Thor clearly hadn’t allowed Tony’s actions to stop him from demolishing his breakfast and Bruce looked amused as he clasped a cup of tea within his hands, the steam slightly fogging up his glasses. Steve was sitting at the end of the table, paper newspaper open in front of him and eyes firmly locked on the page, though nothing could hide the brilliant pink of his ears.

It had only been a day after Tony, himself, had moved into the Tower – Tony and Darcy parting ways once more – when he’d received his first houseguest in Bruce. The scientist had appeared from the elevator with his small bag and told Tony that while he appreciated staying in the lap of luxury in the penthouse, he’d rather be in the Tower where he had access to research equipment and he could do things without worrying about housecleaning knocking while he was taking a bath. Tony had only laughed, welcomed the man, and that was the end of that.

Clint and Natasha had, unsurprisingly, appeared overnight together. Tony was only aware that they were even living at the Tower when he’d wandered into the kitchen to actually eat something - without his usual supply of food or Dummy on smoothie duty, he found himself stuck having to go to an actual kitchen for sustenance - and had found the spy duo eating sandwiches with Bruce. Tony had blinked, made a small ‘huh’ of acknowledgement, and proceeded to steal half of Clint’s sandwich, pushing the archer away when he’d tried to get it back with claims that he was paying for the food, ergo it was all partly his anyway, _learn to share_ , Barton.

Steve had been more polite about it, stopping by on his motorcycle and interrupting Tony as he was on his way to the workshop. After one awkward conversation that had consisted primarily of uncomfortable silences and stilted sentences, Tony had given up and told the soldier he was welcome to stay, ask JARVIS where his floor was, he’d see him later. It hadn’t been one of his braver moments; Tony could admit that.

Thor was the most surprising. Considering it had taken almost two years for the god to return the first time, Tony honestly hadn’t expected to see him for a while. But Thor had appeared as if summoned by the assembly of his fellow Avengers, completing the set and taking up space in the Tower like he’d always been there.

“Huh… people.” Tony said, before occupying his mouth with taking another sip of coffee, this time reigning in the sounds and words that built up in the back of his throat at the warm taste of the nectar of the gods. Seriously, how Thor lived without the stuff until his brief stint on Earth in New Mexico, Tony had no idea.

Before anyone could say anything else, they were interrupted by the doors to the elevator sliding open and the familiar click of high heels upon the wooden floorboards.

Pepper looked as put-together as always and, in a single look, observed the situation before her and took control.

“Tony, when was the last time you slept?” She asked, walking towards him and thus far ignoring the Avengers sitting in the room.

“Pepper, my dove, how nice of you to stop by.”

“You know you shouldn’t stay up so late.”

“I can’t sleep now, it’s an important time.”

“Sleep is an important time.”

“Coffee and inventing are more fun.”

Reaching him, she took the mostly empty cup off him before setting a gentle hand on his upper arm and pulling him towards the elevator. She swiped up a piece of toast from the large plate piled high with semi-burnt bread on the table as they passed the quiet Avengers and, before Tony knew it, the doors were closing on them in the elevator.

“Take us to Tony’s floor, please, Jarvis.” Pepper asked, handing Tony the piece of toast, which he took a bite of mulishly.

“The workshop, Jarvis.” He got out around his mouthful.

“You’re going to bed.”

“I’m fine.”

“You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”

“I have things that need to be finished in the workshop.”

“I don’t suppose any of your ‘work’ is the specs for the new Starkphone that were meant to be finished last Friday?” She asked, eyebrow raised and arms crossed.

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer.” He said around another bite of toast, eyes wandering to examine the elevator interior rather than looking at her.

“I didn’t think so.” She sighed as the doors opened and she pushed him out and towards his bedroom gently.

“Jarvis, you traitor.” Tony groaned.

“Don’t be annoyed, he’s only got your best interests at heart.”

“There’s a perfectly comfortable couch in my workshop, you know.” Tony half-heartedly protested as she turned down the sheets like he was a child. A couch had been the first thing he’d bought for the workshop after it had been finished. He would never hear the end of it if Darcy stopped by and there was nowhere for her to sit when she invaded his workshop.

“Shut up, get undressed and get into bed, Tony.” The familiar note of exasperation entered her voice as he shoved the rest of his toast into his mouth and stripped down to his boxers before climbing onto the mattress.

“Why Pepper, that’s a bit forward of you.” He couldn’t help quipping. She didn’t even bother to acknowledge him.

This was why it never could have worked between Pepper and him. When he’d first met her, he’d felt the attraction and desire for her beauty and fiery personality deep inside. She was strong and didn’t take any of his crap, probably a perfect match for him really, if he was being honest. But then she’d had to spend almost ten years looking after him like this, as if he was some kind of spoilt child who’d never learned to look after himself properly. He was Peter Pan and she was Wendy, he would never grow up and she was always maturing.

For a long while, Tony had wanted to make it work between them. They were both attracted to one another – that was obvious – but they just never had their moment. It may be have been fanciful and romantic of him, but Tony was pretty sure that there had to be some kind of moment between two people for them to work. A spark of lightning or a feeling of contentment, something that made them both sit up and take notice that they were meant to fall into a relationship together. As it stood, they did fall into a relationship, just not the one Tony had expected. He’d never in a million years have guessed all those years ago, upon hiring the pepper spraying SI employee to be his PA, that one day she’d be one of his closest friends. There were times, such as this, when Pepper all but mothered him.

After the sexual desire had faded, they had firmly established a close friendship and business partnership. Tony, honestly, wouldn’t have it any other way.

As he got comfortable, Pepper sighed and sat down next to his hip, her eyes worried.

“I don’t know why I bother saying it, as you never listen to anyone, but you need to take better care of yourself.”

“I’m fine, Pepper, you don’t need to worry about me.” He said quietly.

“You almost died two months ago.” She reached out and gave his hand a brief squeeze. “I know you say you’re ‘fine’, I just worry about your _definition_ of ‘fine’.” She muttered that last part before pulling her hand away and moving over to the large, sleek black chair by the tall window showing the skyline of New York City.

“Sleep, Tony. You need it.”

“Yeah, okay. Just, like, an hour and I’ll be good to go again.” He murmured, eyes already beginning to drop as his body recognised the comfortable surface he was lying on, the recent coffee not strong enough to combat his body’s exhaustion.

Just an hour and then he’d head back to the workshop and finish off some of those projects. He might even think about starting on that Starkphone… maybe.

*

The return to consciousness was swift, Tony immediately aware of the soft sheets under his cheek and the quiet taps of fingers against a screen.

“Wha’s hap’n?” He asked groggily, pushing himself half upright on his forearms.

“You’re in bed. You looked like death warmed over when I saw you, so I thought a few hours couldn’t hurt.” Pepper’s familiar voice came from the window. Looking around, he saw her still sitting in the large chair beside the window, a Starkpad in hand and her hair almost on fire in the early afternoon sun.

“Were you watching me sleep?” He asked, taking in a deep breath as he sat up properly in bed. “Cos I gotta say, Pep, that’s creepy. Like creepily hot, I fully endorse it, but I’d rather be awake for it, you know.” He sent her a leer, to which she merely raised an eyebrow.

“You were drooling on the sheets.” She said dryly.

“Lies. I’m too fabulous to drool.” He snorted, discretely running a hand over the sheets and internally wincing at the wet patch it encountered.

“You’re working too much.” Pepper switched topics. “Though I have no idea on what, because I haven’t gotten anything for SI in over a week now.” Pepper lowered her Starkpad and gave him her full attention, a familiar disapproving look on her face.

“I’ve been working on important things, Pepper.” Tony pushed himself out of bed, absentmindedly noting his pillow on the floor.

“The new prototype for the Starkphone _is_ important, Tony.” She argued as he pulled his jeans back on, finding a Black Sabbath shirt on his dresser that looked clean enough to slip over his head.

“Yeah and I’ll get to it.”

Tony made his way out of his room and towards the elevator, mind already turning around the various prototypes he had left open in his workshop. He attempted to ignore Pepper’s curious questions about what he’d been up to recently as she dogged his steps.

“Tony! Just tell me what’s going on. The last time you were this secretive about your projects you were building the Iron Man suit.” She huffed.

“Well, I’ve already got a few of them, but there’s still room for more.” He said with an easy smile.

“Tony, I’m worried about you.” Pepper snapped.

He immediately felt guilty. Despite their disagreements, Pepper had always been good to him, taking his usual crap that sent most people running and Darcy rolling her eyes, in stride. It wasn’t entirely fair to try and block her when he knew what he was doing wasn’t bad, per say.

“Jarvis, pull up the projects I’ve been working on recently to Miss Potts’s StarkPad.” Tony said, gesturing to the piece of technology she was still holding.

“Certainly, Sir.”

Numerous projects filled the screen, overcrowding it as Pepper looked at them all with wide eyes.

“I have been doing important inventing, Pep. It just wasn’t for SI.” He said awkwardly, feeling exposed as her eyes flickered from project to project. Leaning close, he proceeded to point to various projects as he spoke. “Clint needs a more flexible wrist guard, that SHIELD one is going to have him snap his wrist before long. And Natasha’s tasers take too long to recharge, I think I could get it down to half that time if I tweak them just right. The comms get super static when Thor’s uses them, thunder god I suppose, so I have to work out a way around that. Poor Bruce flashes the world every time the he Hulk’s out, and I can’t leave a fellow scientist running around starker’s after a fight. And Cap’s uniform needs an update…” He trailed off as he noticed the look on her face.

“You’re really serious about this Avengers thing, aren’t you?” She asked, before heaving a great sigh and wrapping him up in a hug he automatically returned, confused.

“You need to take better care of yourself as well as doing all this inventing stuff.” She pulled back with a small smile, her hands moving to rest on his biceps.

“Tony,” she hesitated for a moment before ploughing on, one hand moving to take his own hand that he hadn’t even realised had begun tapping repetitively against the arc in his chest. “You know that you don’t have to make them anything. You’re already giving them somewhere to live and you’re footing the bill to feed them. That _is_ enough.”

Tony shrugged off her hands and took a step backwards, uncomfortable with the weight of feelings now filling the room. There was something in her eyes that made his skin crawl and the urge to bolt from the room was only suppressed by years of practice.

“I’m a giver, Pep. You should know this by now.”

She snorted.

Tony watched as she pulled herself up to her full height, high heels making her taller than him, before she sent him a familiar, pointed look.

“Work on those StarkPhone designs. I want them by the start of next week so I can present them to the board. I’ll put Jarvis on your case if you don’t.” She threatened making Tony roll his eyes out of reflex alone.

“I shall endeavor to badger him until he succumbs, Miss Potts.” Jarvis said dutifully.

“Traitor,” Tony grumbled, always more amused than anything when Jarvis attempted to get him to do something.

“Good. I’ll be back again soon, I’m sure.”

Pepper gave a little nod to Tony before turning and leaving with the click-click of her heels.

Tony, for his part, remained where he was standing in his lounge for a moment, eyes unfocussed and a small frown upon his face. He wasn’t sure he liked the look that had been in Pepper’s eyes. Shaking it off, he clapped his hands together and roused himself towards the elevator to await its return.

“Let’s get some work done, shall we?”

“Yes, Sir. I took the liberty of ordering some coffee to be delivered to the workshop floor while you were sleeping.”

“Jarvis, this is why I love you.” He grinned as the doors opened before him.

*

“Jarvis, where’s Clint?” Tony asked, stepping into the elevator.

“He is with Miss Romanov, Captain Rogers and Doctor Banner on the communal floor, sir.”

“Right, send me up there then.” He patted his precious new invention happily in his hands as the elevator began to rise.

Tony spotted Clint sitting before the large tv in the lounge room and felt the familiar excitement that warmed his belly at the prospect of finalising a prototype. Making a beeline for the couch Clint had claimed, Tony plopped down onto the seat beside him and reached for the archers arm, intending to pull it close so that he could fit the new wrist brace that he’d just completed on it.

“What the hell!” Clint squawked, wrenching his arm away and sending Tony a totally unjustified glare, gaining the attention of the rest of the room in the process.

“Wrist brace.” Tony held up the invention innocently. “Much better than whatever crap SHIELD has had you using. I’m almost finished it, I just need to make the final adjustments based on fit. So, gimme.” He reached out once more for Clint’s wrist and the man hesitantly allowed him to attach the brace.

“You’re not normal.” Clint muttered.

Tony happily didn’t pay him any mind, far more interested in bending and twisting Clint’s wrist to see how he needed to lengthen a small strap here and make the clasp smaller so it wouldn’t ding into the archers palm when he bent his wrist at an 81’ angle. He was idly contemplating the idea of doing a series of braces in increasingly ridiculous colours for a laugh, when a voice that wasn’t one of the Avengers broke through his thoughts.

“Well, this is even better than last time.”

Tony’s head snapped up, blinking over at the elevator where the two new arrivals stood. He’d been so deep in thought that he hadn’t even heard the elevators door, nor had Jarvis announced that they had visitors. Tony was pretty sure he knew the reason behind the AI’s silence, and it started with a ‘D’ and ended with an ‘arcy’.

“Darcy?” He queried, pushing himself up and off the couch and moving over to her, surprised but unable to stop the smile from stretching across his face.

“The one and only.” She grinned hugely before moving towards him and throwing her arms around his neck in an exuberant hug.

“What’re you doing here? I thought you and Jane were going back to New Mexico for a while.” Tony peered over her shoulder at where Jane was standing awkwardly next to the elevators. “Hi, Jane.” He let go of Darcy with one of his hands to offer her a small wave.

“Hi, Tony.” She said, a small, amused smile pulling up her lips.

“We decided to do some stuff in New York for a bit.” Darcy said, pulling back with an innocent look on her face that immediately made Tony weary.

“What kind of _stuff_?” He asked, but Darcy seemed to suddenly notice the other people in the room and that captured her full attention.

“Oh, hey, superheroes.” She said with a grin.

The others had been silently watching the byplay till that moment. Steve sitting on the couch with a novel in hand, Clint and Natasha having been watching tv and Bruce who was seated on a recliner beneath the single lamp in the room.

“I’d ask who you all were, but you’re kinda famous now. So, hi, I’m Darcy Stark.” She gave a wave of her own, before her eyes suddenly landed on Bruce.

“Oh wow,” she moved quickly over to him, grabbing his hand when he wasn’t quick enough to offer it, and shaking it enthusiastically with both her own. “You’re Doctor Bruce Banner, I’m such a huge fan of yours. You are, like, the coolest science dude to have ever lived. I cannot believe I’m meeting you – this is so awesome! I have the most intense need to ask if I can take a Selfie with you, I hope you don’t mind.” She gushed, babbling away happily in a way very similar to how Tony got when he was excited.

“Uh, nice to meet you too?” Bruce offered, sending Tony a bemused look.

“Told you she was a fan of yours.” He grinned.

“You told him stuff about me?” She gasped; rounding on Tony like she was a kid again and Tony had offered to tell her crush of the week that she liked them.

“I just said you were a fan.” Tony shrugged.

“Oh my god, Tony!” She quickly turned back to Bruce. “I’m not a creepy stalker or anything, I promise.”

Whatever Bruce was planning to reply with, though actual vocal responses may have been out of the question as he just looked shocked and confused, were cut off by the elevator doors opening again and Thor’s voice as he stepped out, almost bumping into Jane in the process.

“Man of Iron, why have you filled the moving box with – Lady Jane?” Thor exclaimed in surprise, hands coming up to rest on her shoulders to prevent any possibility of her falling over.

“Hi, Thor.” The astrophysicist said awkwardly.

Tony had a moment where he wondered if they were going to dance around one another despite the fact he knew Thor had made it a point to keep her safe during the battle of New York. He supposed that two years of radio silence from your alien prince boyfriend was enough to dampen even the most infatuated persons feelings. However, Thor suddenly let out a deep, joyful sounding laugh and swept Jane up into his arms, leaving her feet hanging in the air. When he deposited her back on the ground he wasted no time in leaning down and giving her a kiss right on her, no doubt very surprised, lips.

“Oi!” Tony called out when they didn’t separate after what he considered an acceptable amount of time to be snogging someone in a room full of other people.

“Forgive me, my friend. I am just so pleased to see my beautiful Lady Jane once more.” Thor finally tore himself away from the slightly stunned looking woman in his arms and looked at the rest of room, Tony knowing the moment his eyes landed on Darcy as his smile, if it was possible, became even larger.

“Lady Darcy, you too have found your way to me again?” Thor joyfully went to her, pulling her into a similarly enthusiastic hug, but refrained from any kissing this time.

“Still godlike and musce-ly I see.” Darcy grinned at him, offering him a gentle nudge of the elbow when she was safely back on solid ground. “And I’m actually here because of Tony, but seeing you again is a bonus.”

“You know of Tony Stark?” Thor asked, unsubtly gravitating back to Jane while he spoke to Darcy, stilling only when he was at her side.

Darcy gave him a surprised look, as did Tony for that matter.

“Someone didn’t read their info packets on their team members.” Tony singsonged, an easy smile lifting his lips as Darcy rolled her eyes at him.

“Tony Stark happens to be my ridiculous brother.” She said, jerking a thumb at Tony as she did so.

Tony glanced at the others to see their unsurprised looks; only Thor appeared to not have known. Though, given how much information Tony had been handed about his teammates, he wasn’t surprised that they were already aware of Darcy’s existence. Despite his best efforts, Darcy did still come up after googling him enough.

“Verily, this is most excellent news. To have such strong and courageous worriers both cut from the same family cloth is a great honor.” Thor boomed. Tony raised an eyebrow at the way the god was speaking. If he didn’t know better, he’d say the god was amping up his flowery language for a certain doctor’s benefit.

“Sure, buddy, whatever you say.” He said dryly.

“We should celebrate.” Darcy suddenly changed topics, looking around with excitement once more.

“Celebrate what?” Tony asked, years of experience telling him that his sister was about to unleash some kind of mayhem on his life.

“A moving in celebration.” Darcy said, voice holding a distinct air of ‘duh’ to it.

“The Avengers moved into the Tower weeks ago, Darcy.” Tony said carefully, body tense and waiting for the bomb to drop.

“Not you guys,” Darcy waved a hand dismissively. She looked at him dead on with a huge smile on her face before opening her mouth again.

“Jane and I are moving into the Tower.”

There it was. To think, Tony had just wanted to finish Clint’s wrist guard.

*

“You have got to be kidding me.” Tony said, almost disbelieving of what was before his own two eyes… or rather the hud screen of the Iron Man armor, but for him it was the same thing.

“Don’t tell me you have an insect phobia.” Clint groaned loudly over the comm unit in Tony’s ear.

Looking out over the huge insects that were currently chewing on various objects in the street, from a car to a lamppost, Tony spared a brief moment to wonder how, exactly, this was his life. The Avengers had received a call from Nick Fury at the Tower that some idiot had gotten it in their head that creating giant bugs was the way to world domination. The team had arrived on the scene to find six twelve feet tall bugs scuttling about and installing terror in New Yorkers.

“Of course I don’t. I would’ve turned right around and gone back to the Tower if that were the case.” Tony snipped, honestly more focused on the huge bugs then responding to Clint’s quip.

“We need a plan of attack.” The Captain’s voice broke over any further conversation between the two, making Tony roll his eyes on reflex.

“A giant fly swat. Can of bug spray?” He offered, only half serious.

“Something actually helpful, Iron Man.”

“Pick a bug, try to squash it?” Tony tried again, eyes trained on the two large grasshoppers, hoping they didn’t start hopping about.

“Iron Man and Thor, you both take the grasshoppers. Hawkeye, see if you can get at the praying mantis without getting too close. Black Widow, you and me are on the two ants. Hulk, that big honey bee over there is yours.” The Captain dished out everyone’s assignments and the Avengers broke off to tackle their own, individual insect.

For such large creatures, they were still just bugs. The battle didn’t last longer than twenty minutes, the six congregating near where the SHIELD Agents had appeared with large containment vans for the clean up.

“Right, well, I’d like to say that was short and sweet, but we all know that’s a lie. It was disgusting.” Tony said, eyeing the sliminess of the honeybee’s insides that could still be seen on the Hulk. Sometimes, wearing a suit of armor was a blessing. “I, however, have other things to attend to.” He took a step back from them and the whine from his boots signaled his imminent takeoff.

“Iron Man, we have a debrief with Fury to get to.” The Captain took a step towards him, hand rising as if he was thinking of grabbing hold of him to keep him there.

“Yeah, sure, you let me know how that goes.” Tony offered a short parody of a salute before boosting up power and shooting up into the New York sky.

“Stark! Tony!”

“Jarvis, cut the communication with the team unless it’s actually important.” Tony said quietly, the noise of Captain America’s angry shouting causing his ears to ring slightly even after it was cut off.

“Shall I start up the workshop for your return, Sir?” JARVIS asked, the slight disapproval of Tony’s actions clear in his voice.

“Yeah, I think we need to start working on Natasha’s Widows Bite, that looked like it was taking ages to do anything.” Tony allowed himself to get lost in thoughts of schematics and power voltages as the Tower came into sight.

He had work to do.

*

Tony wasn’t sulking, despite what Darcy and Pepper seemed to think.

Sitting on the kitchen bench, he poked and prodded at his StarkPad, for once not in the mood to really do anything. When Steve had gotten back from the Debrief, he’d wasted no time in tracking down Tony and chewing his ear off about skipping. Something about being part of a team meaning he had to sit through boring ass breakdowns of a fight he was just involved in. What did Fury know, anyway? The man was not to be trusted at the best of times, let alone for what Tony was pretty sure would quickly turn into ‘pick on Tony’ time.

Not that he would admit it, but Tony’s ears were still ringing at the volume of Steve’s lecture.

It also didn’t help that Tony had tuned out partway through, mind wandering to what kind of dog Steve would be if he was hit with some super villain ray gun that turned people into their most alike canine breed. The drifting hadn’t been so much a problem as Steve realising he’d drifted.

That… that had been _very_ loud.

“Stop sulking.” Pepper broke into his sul-brooding, manly brooding, time.

“I’m brooding.” He replied, looking up and sending the woman a glare at where she sat at the table, her own StarkPad before her and an orange and poppy-seed cupcake in her free hand.

“No, that’s definitely your sulking face.” Darcy chirped, sounding way too happy about the situation for Tony’s taste.

He sent her a glare, which she ignored as she iced the rest of the cupcakes with a thick, vanilla frosting.

“Shut up.”

“If you didn’t want him to lecture you then you should have just gone to the debriefing.” Pepper said, still not bothering to look over at him.

“I’m not going to listen to that one eyed pirate tell me how to battle a giant bug more efficiently. There should never again be a need for me to know that.” Tony snipped.

“You don’t know, it could be giant moths next week, a giant centipede the week after. There are a lot of bugs in the world and many insane people. It’s definitely plausible.” Jane, who had been sitting quietly at the table with Pepper, spoke up, a small smile quirking the corner of her lips.

“Shut up. Don’t jinx me.” He sighed loudly, slumping down.

They were interrupted from further speculation about abnormally large insects by the arrival of Clint and Bruce.

“Yo, what’s with all the cupcakes?” Clint asked as soon as they entered into the kitchen area, eyes on the neat pile of iced treats beside Darcy.

“Darcy bakes.” Tony said idly, watching as Bruce headed for the kettle while Clint wandered pseudo casually over to the cakes.

“Really? That’s awesome. Can I have one? Or like, ten?” Clint asked, unusually polite from what Tony had seen of the other man over the past few weeks.

“Knock yourself out.” Darcy nodded, Clint snagging one before she could change her mind.

The archer flopped down onto one of the kitchen chairs across from Pepper and beside Jane, before letting out a loud sigh as he took a bite.

“Dude, what’s up with you?” He asked, mouth half full of cake. “These are awesome, by the way.” He added after a slight pause to Darcy, waving the remaining cupcake before him.

“He’s sulking.” Pepper and Darcy said at the same time, voices eerily in-sync.

“I am not sulking!” Tony grouched, frown now firmly on his face.

“Apparently, it’s brooding.” Jane piped up, eyes firmly locked on the papers before her, but Tony knew the woman was smiling.

It seemed everyone was ganging up on him.

“Why are you sulking?” Bruce asked, leaning a hip on the counter, arms loosely crossed over his chest, as he waited for the water for his tea to boil.

“Because he’s a baby.” Darcy snorted.

“I am not.” Tony stretched out a leg to nudge her thigh, to which she whipped around and smacked his shin with the handle end of the spatula.

“Ow!” He hissed, pulling his leg away from her.

“Greetings, fellow warriors, we have arrived.” Thor said loudly, causing everyone to look over to where he was standing, Natasha and Steve flanking him.

“Cupcakes?” Natasha asked as they moved towards the table, Thor bee lining for Jane’s free side and Steve sitting down at the far end, coincidently the opposite side of where Tony still sat on the counter.

“Darcy apparently makes super awesome cupcakes.” Clint provided.

“Hey, I like that. Tony, when I decide to have a career change, remind me to put that on the sign of my cupcake business as the slogan.” She said, grinning at him.

“You can’t have a career change yet, you don’t even have a proper job.”

“I can have a career change if I want.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

Tony just rolled his eyes and gave up arguing as a bad job. To be honest, he was feeling tense with Steve in the room. They’d only had their _discussion_ a few hours ago and he wasn’t quite sure how to go about talking to the man just yet. Usually, when someone was mad at him, he just threw his latest creations at them, or pestered them until they forgave him. But Steve was an unknown. Last time they’d argued, it had been silence and being away from one another for weeks before they’d really been able to talk like normal human beings again. Tony was pretty sure that approach wasn’t going to work this time.

Although, maybe it was time for him to visit Japan or something? He was sure Pepper would have some menial task on another continent that he could do.

“Tony, we’re needed downstairs.” Pepper’s voice cut off Tony’s search on his StarkPad for possible countries to escape to.

“Oh goody.” He sighed, for once thankful for the distraction. If it meant getting out of Steve’s space without having to be too obvious about it, he was all for it this time.

“Come on.” Pepper urged him, placing the cupcake wrapper in the bin before moving towards the elevators, attention mostly on her StarkPad.

“Make sure to save me one, Darc.” Tony gave his sister a quick pat to the shoulder as he passed her, knowing she’d heard when she gave a nod and smile.

“Try not to make the minions faint this time, eh?”

“It was one time!” Tony groaned, remembering a particularly celebrity stuck individual who had, indeed, gotten a bit light headed around him.

“Oh, this I have to hear.” Clint leaned forward eagerly, eyes glancing to Tony with mischief before returning to Darcy.

“Don’t go telling them embarrassing stories, Darcy, or I’ll have to share some of yours.” Tony threatened as he left, Darcy’s laughter following him.

“So, what’s so urgent that you need me to go down right away?” He asked as the elevator doors shut behind them and they began their descent.

“You have a pile of paper work on your desk waiting eagerly for you to sign it.” She said simply, smile quirking the corner of her lips.

“Pepper!” He _hated_ paperwork.

“I also thought it might be best to give you some time to work out how you’re going to apologize to Steve for being hard to get along with.”

Tony didn’t say anything and just sighed, he’d need more than an afternoon of paperwork to figure that one out.

*

Tony, honestly, wasn’t 100% sure how he had ended up here.

Here being sitting on a couch in the den with the Disney movie ‘Tangled’ playing on the huge screen, Darcy pressed against his side and the arm of the lounge they were sharing digging slightly into his other side, a StarkPad awkwardly balanced on one knee. Also sharing their couch, which Tony was beginning to think was a bit too small for what they were attempting to pull off, was Jane. She was curled up in the other corner, one leg hanging down off the seat where Thor was lying on the floor, all but cuddling the appendage. Clint had joined the god on the floor, stretched out with his arms behind his head and ankles crossed. On another couch, Steve was sitting with Bruce, the latter once again reading one of his science journals in the light of the only lamp in the room. Natasha, the final member of what Tony was mentally dubbing the ‘movie fun times with Avengers plus two’, had managed to snag the arm chair all to her own.

Tony had managed to escape from Pepper and find safety in his workshop for the past two days before Darcy had tracked him down and demanded he come up to the kitchen where she’d made caramel and chocolate popcorn. When asked why she had made such a thing, she’d rolled her eyes and said: ‘because I want to watch Disney movies and you’re going to watch them with me’. Tony had argued until she’d agreed that he could bring his StarkPad with him.

Sitting on the couch with his sister while a movie played on a screen before them wasn’t all that unusual, Tony had been doing in since before the DVD was even invented and Darcy had spent a week carrying around a CD soundtrack from Aqua - of all godforsaken bands - claiming that she wanted to ‘watch’ the film. He’s also spent weeks watching and re-watching the animated Alice in Wonderland every single night (and yes, if Tony had to watch Tim Burton’s 2010 version of the film any time in the next five years he’d throw his StarkPad through the flat-screen). What hadn’t been so usual was for Jane to be sitting on Darcy’s other side, apparently having been dragged out from the lab space Tony had set up for her a few floors above Bruce’s own work area. They had only just gotten to the scene involving The Snuggly Duckling when Tony had noticed Thor edging into the area like the most unsubtle mountain claiming land mass. Natasha had appeared soon afterwards, seemingly between one blink and the next, and Clint had appeared with Bruce, the duo coming into the room as Maximus appropriated a sword. Steve was the last to appear, coming in and sitting down when Rupunzel and Flynn were setting out onto the river to see the lights.

The whole, ‘communal movie viewing’ was… different.

Darcy’s elbow suddenly digging into his side wasn’t that unusual, however.

“Ow!” He hissed, glaring at her.

“See,” she looked ridiculously smug in the flickering light of the tv. “You should watch movies with me more often.”

Glancing at the rest of the people in the room, Tony was forced to admit that this was nice.

*

One of the things that Tony loved about sleeping in his room, when he did make it to bed that is, was that Jarvis had complete control of the windows and prevented any light from entering before he was awake for it. Honestly, it was one of the best things that allowed him to keep his unusual sleeping habits, because he found it quite difficult to sleep with sunlight streaming into his eyes. The arc reactor, unsurprisingly, had been a challenge to get used to sleeping with, as there was no real way he could turn that light off unless he wanted to have a panic attack.

Tony was peacefully sleeping away in his bed, pillow once more on the floor and covers twisted around his legs, one arm up above his head and he may have been snoring slightly, though he’d never admit it, when the tranquil atmosphere was broken by his sister.

“Tony!” she had started calling his name before she’d managed to throw open his door, rushing into his room and proceeding to roughly shake him into consciousness.

“Go ‘way.” He groaned, bringing his arms up to cover his head in the absence of a pillow to hide under.

“Tony, get up.” She poked him in the shoulder, hard.

“Get. Up.” She brought her hands down on his blanket covered stomach, causing him to let out an ‘ouf’ of air. He felt the bed dip as she leaned up onto it slightly, before he felt the telltale breathing near his ear. So help him god, if she yelled right now, he’d-

“I have a surprise for you.” She, thankfully, didn’t yell, but instead singsonged in his ear.

He’d have almost preferred the yelling.

“What kind of surprise?” He asked, very much awake now, but still holding out a slim hope that she’d give up and leave him be.

“The kind that means you have to get up!” She had pulled back as she spoke, landing another thump on him to punctuate her words.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Tony bid farewell to the idea of having a decent amount of sleep for a change.

“Fine, okay, I’m up and awake. This had better be the most amazing surprise I’ve ever received.” He finally opened his eyes, relieved that his room was still mostly dark and the only foreign light source was his still open bedroom door.

Darcy made an odd squealing noise, normally associated with teenyboppers in the presence of hot young male celebrities, and pulled on his arm as apparently his sedate pace wasn’t too her liking.

“Come on, come on.” She couldn’t stop grinning. If Tony hadn’t been so rudely awoken, he’d have been more amused by her excitement than tired.

Tony went semi-stumbling after his sister, one wrist caught in his hand as she dragged him along, his free hand covering a yawn and rubbing at his eyes in an effort to wake up properly. They only paused briefly when they reached the elevator, Darcy almost vibrating where she stood. As soon as the doors opened, she took a step forward only to stop in surprise at the sight of Steve leaning against the box wall, his nose buried in a book.

“Uh, hi, Steve.”

The man looked up, blinked twice in surprise before looking around in confusion, a small blush working its way onto his cheeks.

“Oh, uh, sorry. I seem to have missed my stop.” He said, sheepishly.

“That’s cool. We can totally share.” Darcy said, pulling Tony into the elevator.

_Oh, great._

Tony and Steve hadn’t so much as patched things up between them since the incident last week, as ignored that there was a problem and continued on their way, living together in overly polite, stilted conversation.

“Are you guys going to the kitchen?” He asked as the doors closed, his voice sounding slightly strained.

Tony glanced at him, mind still not fully online from where he stood between the other two occupants of the box.

“Darcy said she has a surprise for me.” Tony said, glancing once more at his sister who was staring intently at the small screen where the floor numbers were ticking down.

“Oh, that’s nice.” Steve said, awkwardness increasing.

“Maybe. Depends on what the surprise is.” Tony said dryly, under no illusions that it was just as likely to be a spectacular mess he’d have to clean up in the kitchen as a chocolate cake for him to eat.

“I’m sure it’s something you’ll enjoy.” Steve said optimistically.

“See, Steve knows how to be appreciative.” Darcy leaned into Tony’s side, grinning at the super soldier.

“Mmm, that’s because he didn’t grow up with you.” Tony said shrewdly, sending her a bland smile when she huffed.

“You’re so going to eat those words when I show you my surprise of sheer awesomeness. I’mma make you throw me a party with a big-ass banner that reads: ‘Darcy - sister of the century’ in large, black font.” She poked her tongue out at him.

Tony just snorted.

“Well, this is me.” Steve cut in softly as the doors opened to his floor, and Tony couldn’t help but glance into the space.

He had made it a point to leave each of the Avengers to their own space once he’d finished putting in the final decorations and pictures. He didn’t want to make it seem as if he was hovering, that they were staying in a space that he owned and influenced. Well, he did own it, but he’d given them each their own areas and he’d hoped that they’d make them their own.

Looking briefly at Steve’s rooms, it still looked mostly the same as Tony had left it, with the more old fashion and retro items throughout the room. But, it did look a little lived in, if only for the numerous piles of books that were stacked neatly in the bookshelves and on the coffee table. There was even a throw blanket folded and left on the arm of the couch. Tony wasn’t sure what, exactly he had been expecting, but he’d hoped for a little something… more; if the feeling of disappointment in his gut was anything to go by.

“Enjoy your surprise, Tony.” Steve said with a small, shy smile as the doors once again closed, leaving only the Stark siblings within the box this time.

It was seem Steve was over their disagreement.

“He is just so cute.” Darcy said, apropos of nothing.

Tony felt his eyes go wide and he swung around to look at her, almost pulling her off balance from where she was still leaning against his side.

“What?”

“Don’t worry,” she waved a hand between them dismissively, something wicked shinning in her eyes. “I know you still have that hero-worship crush thing on him so I won’t poach.”

Tony spent the rest of the elevator ride spluttering and trying to get his tongue to work properly in order to tell his delusional sister that she didn’t know shit and that if she ever told anyone he’d had a Captain America poster on the wall of his room until he was nineteen, he’d hack her Facebook account and post all the embarrassing pictures of her he could find - and with Jarvis and his accomplice, that would be a _lot_ of photos.

“Oh, we’re here.” She suddenly exclaimed, once more grabbing onto his arm and almost bouncing on the balls of her feet as the doors opened.

Pushing aside his embarrassment and thoughts of revenge for later, Tony looked out at the car park, a little unimpressed.

“Darcy, it’s the car pack. My car park for that matter.” He glanced down at himself, still only wearing his boxers from when he’d crashed earlier and a black singlet. If he were a more modest man, he’d properly be embarrassed to be parading around in a car park - of all places - in nothing much else. Even if it was his own, private car park wherein only his cars, Steve’s bike, and Happy’s limo were stored.

“Come over here.” She exclaimed, pulling him alone as she spoke.

Right at the back, slightly hidden by a support pillar, was a large storage container. Blinking, Tony was a little embarrassed to admit that he’d missed the stupid thing when he’d glanced around just moments before.

“Right, what’s in the box?” He asked, looking over to her.

Darcy just released her hold on him and took a step back, hands clasping behind her back and a look reminisce of her six-year-old self, crossing her face. Tony knew that look, it was the first time he’d ever tasted one of her cooking endeavors, Jarvis’s Super Secret Ingredient Chocolate Cake when he’d come home from MIT for the weekend the first time. It was a look combining a large amount of excitement, with a little bit of uncertainty and a lot of hope that he could like whatever she was giving him.

Tony immediately knew that, no matter what this surprise was, he was going to like it. If only because she hoped that he would.

“Open it.” She gently encouraged, rocking up on her tiptoes for a moment before falling back with a dull thud that echoed in the car park.

Reaching out, Tony grabbed the metal bar that acted as a lock, and twisted it around before pulling it upwards, the distance click of cogs moving within the door announcing its unlocking. Holding on with both hands, Tony pulled the heavy door slowly open, squinting into the darkness within as he did so.

It was better than anything he could have guessed.

“Oh, Darcy.” He felt his throat tighten as the mechanical whirling within the container started up and he could see curious cameras pointing towards him and happy beeping sounds as wheels began to move against the steel floor. He moved backwards, away from the crate with a laugh, arms wide open in welcome as his three dutiful bots disembarked and bee-lined for him in excitement.

“Hi, guys, hey.” Tony cooed, reaching out and offering stroked and pats where we could as they circled him with the happy chatter only machines could make. The next few minutes Tony only knew his bots, their familiar feel and smell assaulting his senses and bringing with it a sense of happiness and home.

“Do you like it?” Darcy asked after a while, dragging his attention away from where he had been happily running a hand over You’s camera box as Dummy contentedly held onto the hem of his tank top. Looking over, he saw Darcy had gained her own affectionate bot; Butterfinger’s was nudging into her hand like a particularly insisted cat demanding pets.

“It’s amazing, Darc.” He said, clearing his throat in the hopes of dislodging whatever he’d gotten stuck in it.

“I thought, since you’ve decided to move to New York on a semi-permanent basis, that you might need a bit of extra help in the workshop, you know, so you don’t drive Jarvis up the wall with your menial demands.” Darcy smirked.

“A greatly appreciated thought, Young Miss.” Jarvis piped up, causing a tendril of suspicion to grow within Tony.

“You were awfully quite before, Jarvis.” He said slowly, glancing at where he knew one of the hidden cameras was located. “You didn’t happen to know what Darcy was up to, did you?”

“I’m afraid I don’t know to what you are referring, Sir.” The AI’s voice was unusually innocent sounding.

“What have I said about the two of you conspiring against me?” Tony whined, receiving a gently nudge from You for his troubles.

“Young Miss Darcy and I are not to conspire upon anything relating to the health and wellbeing of you, Sir.” Jarvis promptly responded. “Seeing as this was done for the goodness of my own health, I do not believe we have broken the rule.”

“You are a sneaky, slippery, loop-hole finding AI.” Tony admonished, pride filling his chest.

“I aim to please, Sir.”

“Come on, let’s show the boys their new home.” Darcy was grabbing hold of Tony’s arm again - and seriously, he hoped this wasn’t going to become a _thing_ \- her grin once more full of excitement.

“We should have thrown a party to welcome them. With streamers and lots of cans of motor oil.” Tony said, a touch saddened by the missed opportunity.

“Don’t worry, Jarvis and I totally hooked them up with a brand new motor oil can each.” Darcy stage whispered, bursting into loud laughter when the excited beeps and pleased whirls from all three bots made themselves known at this news.

Tony just smiled helplessly, knowing without a doubt that when they got to the workshop there would indeed be three new motor oil cans, probably with large, obnoxiously coloured bows and streamers hanging off of them, sitting on one of the work tables.

*

“I can’t believe the clean up is still making the front page.” Clint said with a loud groan from where he leaned over the back of Steve’s seat at the kitchen table. Waving a hand in disgust, the archer moved off towards the cabinet where he pulled out his cereal and then reached over to the fridge for the milk.

It had been almost a week since the bots had arrived at the Tower, and Tony had spent much of that time making sure that they were transitioning well to the move. He’d had to make up new charging stations for them; the ones in Malibu were built into the very walls and thus impractical to move. Thankfully, with three overeager bots to help him out and Darcy chatting away from the couch abut what she wanted for her ‘sister of the century’ party, Tony had managed to get everything done fairly quickly. He had even, amazingly, managed to get a decent night sleep, so he’d found himself almost high on energy over the last day. He had migrated to the kitchen when promised blueberry pancakes by Bruce, who had been landed with cooking duty that morning.

“It’s important to keep moral high, Clint.” Steve said disapprovingly, rustling his newspaper in a distinctly old man way and sending the other a cool look as Clint filled his cereal bowl.

“If they wanted to show moral, why don’t they talk about the aid work that’s going on?” Clint argued.

“They do,” Steve said, eyes tracking the article. “It’s on page four.”

“Is there anything else in the paper than talk of the clean up?” Bruce asked, glancing over from the stovetop and frowning when he eyed Clint’s bowl. “I’m making pancakes, you know.”

“I need a lot of food to get started in the morning. This if my first breakfast, pancakes are the second and maybe some fruit or something for dessert.” Clint mused, before shoving a huge spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

“Something about a criminal psychologist being accused of murder.” Steve was frowning now, eyes reading over the article on the front page.

“Heaven forbid the paper ever just report some of the good stuff that’s going on in the world.” Clint snarked.

“Bad things sell better.” Tony offered, shooting Clint a smirk before looking back down at his tablet.

“That’s a terrible reflection upon society.” Bruce said, finally bringing over the large plate he’d stacked with blueberry pancakes.

“Out of curiosity, why blueberry?” Steve asked, putting down his paper and patiently waiting for Tony to finish stealing the top three.

“Well, I was just going to make normal ones, but,” Bruce glanced at Tony and his lips twitched, a sure sign he was trying not to laugh. “I remembered that Darcy said that anything with blueberries in it was sure to draw out mad scientists from their lairs, so.” He shrugged and Tony tried and failed to frown at him.

“I am not a mad scientist.” He waved a fork in Bruce’s general direction, trying to chew faster so he could finish talking. “I am a mad genius, get it right.”

“My mistake.” Bruce agreed easily.

“Are we not going to wait for the others?” Steve asked, eyeing Tony and Clint who were eating already.

“Jane went to some astrology observatory thing at the university, so Thor tagged along with her. Darcy is out to lunch with her university friends.” Tony ticked off his fingers. “Natasha is…” He trailed off and looked at Clint expectantly.

“Busy.” He shrugged, a small smirk quirking his lips upward.

“Natasha is busy. We are the only ones up here.” Tony finished, as if he’d explained everything perfectly.

The look Steve sent him clearly said that he didn’t appreciate the flair with which Tony had explained everything, and the table quickly lapsed into silence.

Feeling fidgety in the uncomfortable air of the kitchen, Tony crammed the last of his pancakes into his mouth and stood up.

“Well this was fun, let’s do it again sometime. I’ve got important things to do down in the workshop so I’ll see you all later.” He was backing away as he spoke, eager to get away and enter his private space.

Besides, he had a super soldier suit that still needed adjustments. If it just so happened that he was planning on using the adjustments as something of a bribe to get Steve to relax a little bit around him, well, that was no ones business but his own.

*

Tony had only been hunting for one of Darcy’s cupcakes when he’d entered the kitchen to find the now familiar sight of Steve sitting at the kitchen table, paper newspaper in front of him as he read the days updates. He hadn’t even really thought about it, mind still occupied with the material composition of Captain America’s suit, when the words had left his mouth without any kind of consideration to the outcome.

“You know, I gave you a StarkPad so you wouldn’t have to use those bulky papers anymore.” He said casually, zeroing in on the large glass dome that kept all the cupcakes fresh.

“I like the paper.” Steve said, voice tense and the sound of scrunching paper joining his words.

“Yeah, but you can’t see what’s happening up-to-date on that thing. The Internet let’s you see the news as it’s happening, anywhere in the world.” Tony said, perhaps a bit carelessly as he elected a red frosted cupcake and replaced the dome, turning around just in time to notice that Steve’s whole body was tense and defensive, the paper now scrunched up beneath his hands on the tabletop, his blond head bowed to hide his face.

“I just mean,” Tony said, pausing before he took a bite of his cupcake. “That the StarkPad would be more efficient.”

“I don’t _want_ to use your stupid modern technology to read my bloody news!” Steve suddenly yelled, standing up abruptly from the table and sending his chair careening backwards with a loud smack onto the ground.

“I am sick and tired of all of you going on and on about how _convenient_ everything is now. How I should embrace all the consumerist crap that you all submerge yourselves in - constantly! I hate having blinking lights everywhere I look and the constant need for stimulation is oppressive and exhausting. I don’t understand why you need so many machines in every room of the house. I don’t care if you say they make your life easier, it just makes you lazier! You do not need a toothbrush that does the job for you, you don’t need music shoved in your ears every second of ever day, and I don’t know who in Gods name thought it was a good idea to put a machine in a toilet - but it’s ridiculous!” His face screwed up into a mix of horrified and disgusted along with the angry flush that was staining his cheeks.

“Half the time the modern conveniences you all go on about are more complicated than just doing the darn job yourself in the first place. It’s ludicrous. It doesn’t make any sense. It’s just… stupid.” He finished, breathing hard, hands fisted as he leaned over to rest his weight on the table.

Tony blinked quietly, surprised by the outburst from the usually calm and collected man. Though, he supposed, it was bound to happen eventually. There was no way someone could simply just adjust to such an alien world without some kind of backlash. It might also explain why Steve had been such a pain in the ass recently, uptight and getting annoyed over the littlest of things.

Finally, when it was clear that Steve wasn’t going to say anything else, Tony went over to stand on the opposite side of the table to him.

“Well,” he began, seeing Steve’s body tense as if expecting a verbal blow. “Do you feel better now?”

Steve looked up at him, cheeks still red, but the anger burned out for now, replaced with embarrassment and growing confusion.

“Yes.”

“Good. Now, listen up, because you’re a smart guy - not genius level like me, but you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. People love Captain America. What happened with you and the whole freezing time jump thing is awful, we can’t say we understand but we at least acknowledge that it’s screwed up and unfair on you, which is more than a lot of people get in life. So you need to stop letting it control yours. You’re so determined to dislike the future and compare it to your idealistic memories of the past that you haven’t even tried to involve yourself in the world as it is now. Not everything in the here and now is out to get you, or to make you remember that it’s no longer in the 1940s. The world is at your fingertips; the globe is your oyster. There is so much to do, so much to see - wait, no, that’s Disney.” Tony snorted, amused with himself despite the important message he was trying to convey.

“My point is; you haven’t even given the future a chance yet, Steve. Holing up in the Tower won’t get you anywhere good, you need to get out there a bit. When you’re ready to do that, come find me.” Wisdom imparted, Tony turned and left the kitchen, heading for the elevator and his workshop, taking another bite of the frankly delicious cupcake as he walked.

He hoped, for all their sakes - Steve’s most of all - that the man would take his advice and actually start trying to interact with the future beyond the occasional tv session wherein he sat tense for the most part, frowning more at the clear graphics and colour saturation of the screen than actually watching the movie.

The last thing they needed was for Captain America to turn his back on his country and wander around like some homeless nomad.


	4. A-tishoo! A-tishoo! We All Fall Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As seems to be my thing, sorry about the late update. If you’re interested in why then head over to my Tumblr (linked at the bottom of the post) where I explain a little bit. 
> 
> Slight warning for a very brief mention of gore within this chapter. Basically, when Tony’s about to gag, skip that small paragraph if it makes you uncomfortable or is triggering :)

Tony had a love/hate relationship when it came to press conferences.

On the one had, they were an efficient way to deliver news to a mass audience in an environment that he could exercise a degree of control in. It didn’t always stop the reporters from writing nasty little stories and twisting his words, but it did afford him some ability to pick and choose what bits of his life he wanted to tell the world and what he was determined to keep close to his chest, a lot more literally in some cases.

On the other hand, the idea of standing before a group of tenacious people who were all out for the best story, irrespective of if it was truth, fiction, or even logical, was terrifying. Tony had been doing press conferences since his father had passed, Stane eager to push him into the spotlight and gain sympathy from the general public for Stark Industries. He had only been able to prevent Darcy from suffering the same fate through a lot of promised favors and dealings with the man. The fact that Darcy was publicly a ‘Lewis’ for the most part also greatly helped.

He was loath to admit it, but press conferences had been instrumental in teaching him how to think on his feet.

“Okay, is everyone ready?” Pepper asked, standing before the assembled Avengers in the small waiting room before they were to enter into the space where the conference was to take place.

“Relax, Pepper, everything will be fine.” Tony gave her a grin, squashing down any kind of nerves he felt at the idea of being in front of a pack of hungry reports with a group in inexperienced, unstable and highly susceptible to provocation, individuals.

The look she shot him said she was thinking the same thing and wasn’t convinced that his presence and ability to attract all the attention in a room would be enough to cover the other Avengers potential screw-ups.

“Just remember to smile for the camera.” Tony shot the others a grin over his shoulder, the public plastic one that he always wore before the cameras – the one that left his cheeks aching afterwards and felt unnatural upon his face.

Natasha looked as composed as ever, while Clint was fiddling with something in his pocket (at a guess, Tony would say it was an arrow head and seriously, that was dangerous). Thor was more interested in the small buffet table that had been supplied and Bruce was fidgeting nervously with the cuff of one of his sleeves. Steve was the naturally calmest looking of the lot, a somewhat resigned look on his face and Tony was reminded that Steve had done something like this before, back in the 40s, the whole dancing monkey routine where ‘every bond you buy puts a bullet in your guys gun’ had been the catchphrase.

“Okay, it’s time.” Pepper said, taking a deep breath herself, as if she was the one who was about to be subjected to the pointed questions and neatly side-stepped accusations. Without waiting for any other doubts to enter his mind, Tony took the lead and opened the door, walking into the press conference room to the avalanche of flashes from cameras and excited chatter.

Smiling and waving casually, Tony made his way up to the front table where six microphones had been set up on a long table and six chairs stood waiting for their occupants. Choosing a seat in the middle, so best to draw attention if need be, Tony immediately reached out for the microphone and drew it closer, a familiar action that he did every time he was forced to speak into one of them. Waiting only until the rest of his team members had seated themselves, Thor and Bruce to his left and Steve, Natasha and Clint to his right, Tony offered the vultures his best show smile and began speaking.

“Hello, and welcome to our little Q and A session here today. I think I see some familiar faces from my usual press conferences, so congrats on convincing your bosses to allow you to shift from just covering my awesomeness to reporting on the Avengers as a collective group. Give yourselves a pat on the back.” There was the sound of chuckling throughout the room, and Tony allowed himself to relax slightly, to settle in for the long haul. Getting the press to laugh immediately made most of them more open and willing to steer their coverage in a positive direction, first impressions and all.

“Now,” he leaned forward in his seat slightly, taking note of his fellow Avengers now settled and ready to begin to either side of him. “We’re here today to discuss the Avengers Initiative. I’ll hand over to Steve Rogers – our very own, Captain America - to tell you about it before we open up the floor to questions.”

Tony nodded to the blond, noting with a degree of surprise in the back of his head that Steve had chosen to sit in the seat next to him on Tony’s right.

As Steve began his spiel about what the Avengers where, their purpose, how upstanding they were, blah, blah, blah; Tony kept his eyes on the reporters, taking note of who looked like they were liking what they were hearing and who would probably become a problem for them in the near future.

As the patriotic speech wound down, the reporters were invited to ask questions, and Tony put as much energy as he had into deflecting and intercepting the questions. This was going to be a long conference.

*

The limo was mostly quiet as they headed back to the Tower. Tony was leaning back casually, one leg splayed out and the other tucked normally in front of his seat. He watched as Clint wrestled himself out of the tie Pepper had forced him to wear while Thor kept shifting in his seat, still uncomfortable with the confined space within the vehicle. Natasha was staring silently out the window, crossed legs pulling her pencil skirt tight, while Bruce was cleaning his glasses on the edge of his now untucked shirt. Finally, Steve was sitting directly across from Tony, their legs almost brushing and a contemplative look on his face as he stared directly at him. Tony resisted the urge to fidget under that focused gaze.

“Something on your mind, Captain?” He asked, raising an eyebrow and dredging up the familiar show smile to hide how something in his gut tightened under those blue eyes.

“No,” he said, eyes unwavering. Then, despite his words, he continued. “You’re very good at that.”

“At what?” Tony asked, wishing he had his sunglasses so there was some kind of barrier between them.

“Handling the press.”

“Well,” Tony forced his body to relax and slump casually. “I’ve had enough practice, been doing this since I was a teenager.” He shrugged.

“Hmm,” was all Steve offered, eyes still unwaveringly focused. Tony had to dig his nails into the palm of the hand that was mostly hidden from everyone’s view in order to stop himself from reaching up to tap against the arc.

He didn’t think he’d ever been so happy to reach the Tower before. He was the first one out of the car, ‘women first’ be dammed.

“Right, I don’t know about you lot, but I want cake.” He said, rubbing his hands together as a real smile pulled up his lips at the thought of all the sweets that would be waiting for them when they arrived in the kitchen.

“I think Thor ate the last of Darcy’s cupcakes last night.” Bruce offered as the six squeezed into the elevator. Tony pointedly tried to ignore the fact that he could feel the heat coming off of Steve’s chest due to the small space almost forcing them into touching each other.

Why was he always next to him?

“Doesn’t matter. Press conferences make Darcy nervous, and a nervous Darcy bakes - a lot.” Tony pushed the question from his mind and focused on the soon to be consumed sweets.

The doors to the elevator opened and Tony quickly exited, making sure not to actually touch Steve as he did so. The whole living space smelt like a cake shop: sugar, vanilla bean and chocolate being the most prominent scents. The large television in the lounge area was on, showing the coverage from the press conference, the volume turned up loud so that it would be heard over the various noises of Darcy’s baking.

“Jarvis, mute that.” Tony pointed to the television. “Darcy, my cupcake, what’ve you got for me today?” Tony called out, walking into the kitchen to see her holding a large white bowl with a wooden spoon poking out of it. There were various ingredients sitting on the counters and more flour than was advisable was covering various surfaces. There was what looked like a vanilla sponge cake sitting on the cooling rack and the oven light was on, indicating something else was baking away. A muffin tin was peppered with cupcake wrappers, awaiting the batter Darcy was stirring.

“That’s a lot of cake.” Clint whistled from behind him, where the others had followed him into the kitchen.

“That depends, how much trouble are you in with Pepper?” She asked with a raised eyebrow, her arm never stopping in stirring the mixture within the bowl.

“Trouble?” Tony put a hand to his heart dramatically as he edged over to the oven to peer inside and see what she had in there. “I’ve done nothing. Where on Earth do you get these ideas?” He asked, grinning at the sight of what was in the oven.

“You’re always doing something you shouldn’t. And don’t you dare open that!” She added, halting him, as he had just been about to pull open the oven door.

“But Darcy, that’s what I think it is, isn’t it?” He asked, a whine to his voice but unable to keep the grin off his face.

“Maybe,” she allowed, a smirk pulling at her lips.

Tony went to her and pulled her flour covered self into his arms anyway, delighted.

“You are the best.” He grinned, allowing her to push him away with a laugh.

“You just got flour all over your suit.” She sighed, still amused despite her words.

“A little flour never hurt anyone. Now, tell me, how long until it will be ready.” He asked, rubbing his hands together as he focused on the important issue at the moment.

“There’s a vanilla bean cake right there waiting to be eaten.” Darcy pointed out, purposely pretending to ignore the significance of the cake in the oven.

“Who cares about the vanilla bean, there is the most amazing cake in the entire world in that oven and I want some as soon as possible.”

“What kind of cake is it?” Thor asked, causing Tony to turn around and recall that there were others in the room as well. Natasha and Steve were pulling out small plates and forks while Clint was taking off the glass dome keeping the vanilla bean cake fresh. Thor had sat himself down at the table to wait for his own piece of cake and Bruce was boiling the kettle, a selection of mugs before him.

All they were missing now was Jane, who had opted to stay for the week at the observatory.

“The best cake in the entire world.” Tony said promptly, turning back to the oven to stare through the glass at the chocolaty goodness within. He had lost count of how many times he had stared through an oven door and watched as the cake slowly baked within.

“Yes, you said that, but what kind of cake is it?” Clint asked as Natasha began cutting up the vanilla bean and Steve held out plates for her to put the precisely portioned pieces on.

“It’s called the Super Secret Ingredient Chocolate Cake.” Darcy said, grinning at them all.

“I don’t think there’s actually a cake with a name that ridiculous.” Clint snorted, fork already spearing a large chunk of his slice.

“Blasphemy. No amazing cake for you.” Tony wagged a finger at him, looking briefly away from the oven.

“There’ll be no amazing cake for you either if you don’t answer my question.” Darcy neatly cut in.

“Can I remind you that I’m the business savvy adult here?” He shot her an affectionately exasperated look, but conceded to her request. “It went as well as it ever would, I’m sure Pepper will give me a gold star for it and everything.” He rolled his eyes.

“I’ll make sure to remind her to do so.” Darcy grinned at him, relaxing minutely, her stirring slowing slightly.

“Tony, are you going to have any of this?” Bruce asked as the others sat down and began to eat.

“No, thanks, I’ll hold out for the good stuff.”

“This is good, just as good, I’m sure. Darcy, you’re a wonderful baker.” Steve said, slightly reprimanding of Tony’s comments.

“You’re sweet, Steve, but that cake in the oven is actually the best cake in the world. I hate to say it, but Tony’s right this time.” Darcy laughed.

“This time?” Tony raised his eyebrows in mock offense.

“Shut up.” She waved a hand dismissively at him before beginning to pour the batter into the waiting cupcake wrappers.

“We’ve been eating Jarvis’ Super Secret Ingredient Chocolate Cake since we were kids.” Darcy directed to the eating Avengers, unintentionally causing Tony to freeze where he stood, stomach tightening into knots.

It had been years since Darcy had mentioned Jarvis – the human, Jarvis – around new people. Sure, Rhodey and Pepper both knew about the man who was more of a father to the Stark kids’ then their blood one. Every year, on Jarvis’s birthday, the duo would make the trek out to the cemetery and visit his gravestone, sharing the years’ news with the old English gentleman.

It was certainly more than they did for Howard’s birthday, a day usually devoted to very carefully avoiding any mention or reminder of the man.

“Jarvis’s cake? What, did you get him to calculate the perfect percentages or something?” Cline asked with a snort of laughter.

“Not Jarvis, our lovable AI overlord. I mean our butler as kids, Edwin Jarvis.” Darcy slowed what she was doing, her voice softening for a moment before she seemed to pull herself together and projected enthusiasm into her voice.

“He taught me all sorts of recipes when Tony went off to university, mostly – I think – to keep me out of trouble.”

Tony counted his breaths, tense, waiting to see how much more of their family’s past his sister was going to talk about. He would never try to restrict what Darcy was comfortable telling people about their childhood, but he knew that any mention of their parents had to be handled delicately. Darcy wasn’t, after all, always known for her tact.

“To limited success, I’m sure.” Natasha spoke up, voice warmly amused.

“I used to get into all kinds of things, but nothing ever too serious. I don’t think Jarvis’ heart was really in it when he tried to scold me, to be honest. On more than one occasion I’m pretty sure he was actually amused by what I’d gotten up to, but couldn’t let on.”

Tony caught the slightly mischievous look Darcy suddenly sent him.

“Tony was always the one to stir up Jarvis.”

“Lies.” Tony forced a smile onto his face, trying to make his voice sound as normal as possible when his throat felt constricted.

“I distinctly remember getting up one morning in the summer and going for my usual toast for breakfast, only to discover you’d cannibalized the toaster for parts some time during the night. I’d never heard Jarvis yell quite so loudly when he found out you’d taken his precious tea kettle as well.” Laughter filled the room and even Tony felt nostalgic amusement flicker beneath the anxiety.

Tony could still remember that. He’d never seen the Englishman’s face go quite so red. Jarvis had taken away all of Tony’s tools and ordered him to spend the whole day cleaning the mansion, going from room to room with inspections after each one. It hadn’t helped that Darcy had followed after him, her forgotten toys an indicator of which rooms they’d been in.

“Those were the days.” Darcy sighed happily.

“Sir,” Jarvis the AI suddenly interrupted. “Director Fury is on the line for Agent Barton.”

Tony wouldn’t admit it, but the interruption of Jarvis over the built in speakers in the house was something of a relief. The conversation had been getting a little too close to his darkest secrets for his comfort.

“Here, Sir.” Clint sat up straight in his chair, even though it was only audio and there was no way Fury could actually see him.

“Agent, I need you to report in for duty immediately. We have a reconnaissance mission you need to take over.”

“Sir? I thought I was still suspended from SHIELD duty pending an enquiry?” Clint’s voice was clearly irritated.

Tony didn’t blame him either. The fact that it was months later and the higher-ups were still regarding Clint Barton, one of SHIELD’s best, as a possible threat because of Loki’s little mind control thing was ridiculous.

“This takes precedence over the enquiry, Barton. Now, I won’t say it again, get your ass here for a debriefing.” Fury snapped

“Hold on, Director Fury.” Steve suddenly spoke up, voice dropping those few octaves into ‘Captain America’s' register.

“Clint Barton was released from SHIELD duties into the Avengers. As the leader of the Initiative, I would like to be informed if you’re taking one of my members for a mission.”

Tony was momentarily surprised. Despite the whole Loki debacle and their recent argument concerning debriefings, Tony had been fairly sure Steve was happy to march to Fury’s drum.

Apparently, the Super Soldier had experienced a change of heart. Briefly, Tony wondered if his words to the man the other day had caused Steve to rethink how he had been mindlessly following orders, before he mentally slapped himself.

Like anything _he_ said would have that much of an impact on the other man.

“Captain Rogers, might I remind you that the Avengers Initiative is a part of SHIELD?” Fury gritted back.

“Yes, but there is a chain of command to adhere to… Sir.” He tacked on the last bit almost as an afterthought.

There was silence in the kitchen for a moment as everyone waited for Fury’s response.

“Agent Mark Millar was terminated this morning. Agent Barton is needed for reconnaissance while we find a suitable replacement.” Fury finally spoke.

“I’m leaving now, Sir.” Clint pushed to his feet, shoving one more fork-filled bite of cake into his mouth before casually saluting the others in the room and heading for the elevator.

“Please keep us updated as to how the progress of finding a replacement is going, Director.” Steve politely requested.

Tony wanted to laugh at the face Fury must have been pulling at the Captain’s words.

Steve Rogers’ strikes again.

“Remember who you’re speaking to, Rogers.”

“Of course, Sir.”

Fury disconnected the call without another word.

“He’s going to be insufferable for a week, now.” Natasha lamented, though there was something thoughtful about the way she was eyeing Steve across the table.

“He’ll get over it.” Steve shrugged, taking his final bite of cake, studiously avoiding everyone’s eyes.

“Aye, you do us proud, dear Captain. We must stand united against all those who seek to divide us.” Thor banged his fist on the tabletop, causing all the plates and forks to rattle dangerously.

“If you break that table, I will deny you cake.” Darcy pointed a mitten-clad hand at him as she moved over to where Tony was still standing before the oven.

“Open, please.” She held the muffin tray of cupcakes up carefully.

Tony did as he was bid, hoping that she’d pull the other cake out.

“It’s still got another thirty minutes or so, Tones. Why don’t you go bother someone else in the meantime?” She poked him with her warm mittens once she’d closed the door again, a smile curving her lips.

Deflating, Tony sighed.

“Yeah, okay. Hey, Jarvis? Pull up the media response to our little tête-à-tête on the main television. Let’s see if the vultures liked their meal.”

He could begin any damage control while he waited for his cake, staying close enough to hear if the topic of his parents was resumed or if he could relax once more.

With so many curious people under one roof, Tony wasn’t sure how long his secret about Maria Stark would stay hidden.

*

“Yeah, maybe - and this is just a suggestion - we should focus on fixing the wiring here rather than what the paint colour should be when we fabricate it?” Tony asked, pushing away Dummy’s claw that was clutching a collection of sample colours - and honestly, where had he even gotten them? Tony was willing to put money on Darcy being the culprit; she tended to be when it came to abnormal bot behaviour and random acquisitions of useless items. She was such a terrible influence.

There was a disappointed sounding beeping from Dummy and he lowered his claw to the ground, clearly expressing his disappointment. Tony groaned and mentally despaired at how spoilt his bots had become.

“No, it’s okay. Let’s look a the colour choices now, it’s not like whether or not this works is more important than what colour it’s painted or anything.” Tony sighed and sat up from his hunched over position, pushing the magnified glasses he was wearing for easily sighting the tiny wires onto the top of his head. “Okay, show me what you’ve got. No, not in my face, that’s too close, hold them, just, yeah, that’s it, okay.” He leaned forward slightly as Dummy stopped trying to shove the sample colours at him and looked them over critically.

“I think I’m feeling the metallic colours, what do you guys think?” He asked, pulling out the four metallic shades from the selection and tilting them to see the various subtle shifts in colour under the light.

“Sir, I hate to interrupt your colour contemplations, but Captain Rogers is requesting entrance to the workshop.” Jarvis broke through Tony’s thoughts of how the metallic colours would wear in the publics’ hands, much better than those stupid pastels his competitor had used on their phones, that’s for sure.

Looking over to the entrance of his workshop in surprise, Tony blinked. It had been over a month, now and no one had made any attempts to enter his workshop, apart from Bruce (who was a given) and Darcy (who wouldn’t stay out no matter how many times he tried to fix his security in such a way that it would restrict her access).

“Well, that’s different.” He absently patted Dummy when the bot nudged his shoulder, seeking attention.

“Okay, Jarvis, my main man, let the good Captain in and let’s see what he wants.”

The doors opened and Steve walked into the workshop, a look of complete wonder and curiosity overtaking his features as his eyes tracked around the room, mouth slightly open. Tony couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride at the reaction. The workshop was definitely Tony’s space; full of half finished projects and lots of metal and ‘futuristic’ technology like the holoscreens and the bots moving about the area. It pleased him to no end to see someone clearly impressed with it all.

“What can I do for you, Cap?” Tony asked, still patting Dummy in a way he would later deny was reminisce of Doctor Evil in Austen Powers - not that the other man would understand the reference when he’d never actually seen the movies.

“I, uh, I,” Steve trailed off, eyes locked on the slowly rotating holoscreen before him, that showed Clint’s quiver, pulled apart and expanded.

“You?” Tony prompted helpfully.

“I was just…” Steve didn’t seem to know what he was saying anymore as he reached out cautiously and touched the hologram, a delighted expression crossing his face when the floating bits and pieces reacted to the movement and began to spin in the other direction.

“This is amazing.” He finally said.

Tony did not blush.

“It’s just Clint’s quiver.”

“No, I mean,” Steve looked at the workshop as a whole once more. “This whole place is… really something, Tony.” He finally turned to look at the genius and Tony felt that pride in his chest grow.

“Thanks.” He said, a soft smile lifting his lips before the moment was broken by Dummy rearing back up and shoving his claw in Tony’s face once again.

“Okay! Yes, I know you’re there! We have company, in case you hadn’t noticed, so how about you pretend you know what good behaviour is and you go and say hi?” Tony gently pushed the inquisitive bot towards Steve, who looked almost as curious.

“What is it?” He asked as Dummy rolled over to him, camera turning this way and that to get various different views of the man.

“He.” Tony corrected, voice firm. Steve glanced at him for a moment before nodding slightly and turning his attention back to the bot and reaching out a hand to gently touch his claw.

“Hi there, what’s your name?” He asked, giving the claw a pat as if the bot were a friendly dog not a large, robotic claw.

“His name’s Dummy, he can’t talk, exactly.” Tony supplied, the bot letting out a series of friendly sounding beeps and whirls.

“Dummy?” Steve shot Tony a frown. “That’s not a particularly nice name, Tony.” He chastised.

“Hey, _I_ didn’t name him. He was listening to me talking to Darcy and he latched onto the word.” Tony shrugged innocently. It wasn’t his fault that the bot had picked that word to respond to.

“Oh,” Steve’s indignation upon the part of the bot deflated and Tony couldn’t help but feel fondness for the man grow. Here was a man from the 40s where robots were nothing but a distant dream, getting upset on behalf of the electronic creation for having a mean name.

“You help Tony in his workshop, do you?” Steve asked the bot, a smile lighting his face when Dummy suddenly grabbed hold of the bottom of his shirt and gently tugged him towards where Butterfingers and You were more cautiously sitting back and watching the proceedings.

“Are these your friends?” He continued, for all the world like Dummy was talking away to him like a little kid showing off his friends to his parents.

“That’s You and Butterfingers, they’re a bit shyer than Dummy is.” Tony supplied, content for the moment to watch his bots interact with the new human in their domain.

Steve sent Tony a raised eyebrow look.

“Their very… interesting, names.” He held his hands out to the other bots, like they were strange dogs that needed to scent him before they would let him touch them. Tony didn’t know what was more ridiculous, the fact that Steve was treating some of the only learning bots in the world like nervous puppies, or that it was actually working. Tony had no idea where the nervousness around humans had come from for You and Butterfingers, but they generally took a while to warm up to new people, they’d taken months with Pepper and Rhodey. Darcy had even taken a week before they’d happily allowed petting and cooing, Butterfingers especially, was rather fond of Darcy now.

“They’re eccentric.” Tony offered as his defense.

“Like their daddy, I assume.” Steve snorted, missing the flush that spread over Tony’s cheeks at his words due to Dummy happily shoving his camera in Steve’s face.

“Was there something you actually needed down here, or where you just searching for affectionate bots to play with?” Tony finally asked when it became obvious that the three bots were content to bask in Steve’s attention for as long as possible.

“Oh, yeah.” Steve murmured; seeming to remember something as he gently extracted himself from the huddle of bots that had closed around him. “Darcy was saying that you primarily worked with holoscreens down here and, well, I was working on my light shading and your screens would be really great subjects. I was wondering, if it wouldn’t bother you, if I could sketch down here, maybe?”

Tony was pretty sure that he wasn’t imagining the slight blush that had spread over Steve’s cheeks as he spoke, his eyes darting anywhere but at Tony.

There was something more to this than just sketching his holoscreens, Tony was sure. Except he had no idea what that could possibly be, so he figured he’d just have to lay in wait until he could either get it out of Steve or corner Darcy and make her tell him.

“Yeah, sure, no problem. I’m not sure how exciting it will be down here, but you’re welcome to stay for as long you want. Is the couch okay or would you like some desk space?” He asked, already looking around the workshop for somewhere he could move projects off desks so that Steve would have some space to work.

“No, the couch is fine, thank you, Tony.” Steve offered another of those shy smiles and Tony gave a curt nod before turning back to what he’d been working on in an effort to hide the flush he could feel heating his skin.

“Okay, great. So, you just do your thing and I’ll keep working on the new model for the StarkPhone. Pepper will kill me if I don’t get it finished this week.” He muttered the last bit to himself, mind already returning to the safety of the circuitry before him as he reached up and pulled his magnified glasses back down over his eyes.

When Tony looked up again some two hours later, he was surprised to find Steve was still there, sitting on the couch and diligently sketching away in a familiar sketchbook with a small case of pencils resting on the arm of the chair.

Tony had lost count of the number of times he’d seen Steve in various places around the Tower, sketch book perched on his knee or a table top, hand moving with a grace Tony usually associated with dancers. It sometimes slipped his mind that Steve had been an artist before becoming a soldier.

“What time is it?” Tony asked, pushing up his glasses and stretching his arms above his head.

Steve looked up as Jarvis responded.

“The time is almost six in the evening. Young Miss Darcy is requesting your presence for dinner soon, Sir.”

“Okay, what’s for dinner?” Tony asked, watching as Steve began packing up his stuff.

“I believe Doctor Banner has been cooking some kind of spiced chicken dish.”

“Excellent, Bruce does the best spicy chicken.” Tony offered Steve a grin as the man stood from the couch.

“Thanks, Tony, for letting me spend some time down here. It’s really… amazing.” Steve said sincerely, eyes once more trailing over the various bits and pieces in the room. “I, uh, I don’t want to impose, but, I’d really appreciate it if we could do this again, sometime. I mean, as long as it’s not interrupting you or anything.” Steve said, voice painfully hopeful.

Tony was surprised. He hadn’t thought that people would really want to spend time in his workshop. He knew Darcy was down there all the time, but he’d figured that was more because she’d grown up spending time with Tony in various workshops and she loved being with the bots. Pepper occasionally stopped by the workshop as well, but that was always due to necessity, she never stayed longer than she needed to and she was always either telling him off for not sleeping or for not working on what he was meant to be working on. Rhodey, similarly, was hardly ever in the workshop, only coming down when it came to shoptalk or if he couldn’t find Tony anywhere else in the house.

“Yeah, I mean, sure. If you want to come down here and sketch that’s not going to bother me.” He shrugged, aiming for casual but he was pretty sure he hit awkward instead.

The grin that spread across Steve’s face, however, was like he’d just told the man he had an all you can eat buffet lined up for all the orphan kids in New York City.

“Thanks, Tony. Really, that means a lot.”

“Sure, no problem.” He said, bemused.

It felt like he’d just offered a lot more than a space for Steve to practice his light sketches. But Tony wasn’t sure what, exactly, he’d offered.

*

It seemed that allowing Steve into his workshop had released something in Steve’s demeanor because suddenly Tony was finding the man around him all the time. Not only that, but he was friendly and always seemed to be just slightly in Tony’s personal space. Tony liked his personal bubble, thank you very much, and Steve’s constant invasion of it should have bothered him a lot more that it did. He wasn’t sure what to do with the fact that Steve was fast becoming the exception to a lot of things in his life.

It was getting to a point that Tony was actually surprised if Steve _wasn’t_ hanging around him. It was incredible what just under a month of near constant contact could do to a person.

“Tony,” Steve sighed in exasperation, a fond smile curving his lips despite the tone.

Tony grunted to show he’d heard Steve, but wasn’t planning on moving from where he was fiddling with a communicator’s insides on his workshop bench.

“Tony.” Steve tried again. “We promised Darcy that we would be up in time for that movie she wanted to watch tonight, remember?”

“Mmm.”

Tony was momentarily disorientated when his vision suddenly went dark; his body tensing to lash out only to recognize the now familiar warmth at his back and the rich smell of Steve’s cologne. It took him a further moment to realise Steve had covered his eyes with one large hand, Tony tried not to think too hard about that hand touching other areas of his body.

Stupid lizard brain.

“Steve, I’m almost finished.” He whined, tilting his head up and meeting Steve’s eyes as the man’s hand fell to rest on his shoulder.

“That’s what you always say and then hours pass and you miss out on stuff. Come on, your work will still be here when you get back, and Darcy has been going on about this movie for days now.”

Tony narrowed his eyes, a suspicion forming in his mind at how familiar Steve’s actions suddenly were.

“Are you trying to guilt me into leaving my workshop?” He asked slowly.

“Yes, is it working?” Steve asked, not even bothering to lie and seeming to be genuinely interested in how successful his guilt tripping abilities were.

“Maybe.” Tony allowed, fighting the small smile trying to break over his face as Steve gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“For the record, though, I don’t think I like you spending so much time with Darcy.” He added. There was only one person in the Tower who could possibly think that teaching Captain America how to guilt Tony into doing things was a fun idea for passing the time.

“Come on, let’s go.” Steve just grinned, ignoring the comment as he stepped back and gestured to the elevator.

Heaving a great sigh like this was the most inconvenient thing on the planet; Tony pushed away from the worktable and stood.

“Jarvis, save all that, would you?” He asked, moving away towards the elevator with his blond shadow.

“See you later, boys, don’t destroy anything while I’m away.” Tony called out to the bots, who dutifully beeped and whirled in response, Dummy dropping the blender he was holding as if on cue. Tony and Steve pretended not to notice and stepped into the elevator.

Tony tried not to fidget as he stood beside Steve. He knew elevators were relatively small in terms of space, but he was also pretty sure that they weren’t so small that Steve needed to be brushing up against his side. When the man’s hand touched his own, Tony casually crossed his arms and cocked his hip, nerves prompting him into tapping his foot.

When the doors opened, Tony immediately exited, making a beeline straight for the large couch he usually shared with Darcy and Jane. Sitting down, he was pleased to see that only Clint had arrived thus far, the archer sitting on the single seat Natasha usually claimed.

“You are tempting fate.” Tony said with an amused smile at the archer.

“I always get stuck on the floor, someone else can have it this time.” Clint shrugged, flipping over so that he was sitting sideways in the chair, legs hanging over one of the armrests.

“Nat’s going to push you off the chair,” Tony singsonged in amusement.

“No, she won’t.”

“She won’t what?” Jane asked, coming over to them and, oddly, sitting in the two-seater chair.

“I want to sit on something nice and soft for a change.” Clint said, hand dramatically going to his heart and throwing back his head. “I’m getting old and need something soft to cushion my ass.”

“Well, you have got a flat ass.” Tony agreed in amusement.

“Excuse me!” Clint squawked, flailing slightly as he pushed himself upright and then to his feet. Stomping over to Tony, he turned and all but shoved his butt into Tony’s face.

“What the fuck!” Tony yelled, trying to push the archer away from him without actually touching said ass.

“Take it back. I have a fantastic ass, you dick.” Clint all but sat on Tony, seemingly unfazed by Tony’s attempts to push him away.

“Try to keep it in your pants, guys. I already have years of therapy ahead of me from walking in on my brother having sex.” Darcy said loudly, causing Tony to pause for a moment as he pushed down the embarrassment that swamped him while he tried to peer around Clint in order to see how many people were witnessing this.

It seemed everyone had made it to the lounge room - great.

“I’m being molested here! Bad touch!” Tony exclaimed, doubling his efforts to try and push Clint away from him.

Suddenly, Clint was pulled away and Tony blinked up to see that Steve was holding the archer with one hand, an eyebrow raised.

“Need some help?” Steve’s voice was dry as the Sahara, and though the question was obviously directed at Tony, his eyes didn’t leave Clint.

“See, someone knows how to be helpful around here, rather than just watching me suffer.” Tony grouched at the rest of the people in the room, which was definitely everyone now that he didn’t have an archer shaped obstacle in his face.

“Suffer?” Clint snorted. “You enjoyed every second of my sexy ass.”

“You have a flat ass, accept your limitations.” Tony couldn’t keep the smirk off his face.

There was a moment of scuffling as Clint attempted to sit on Tony again, but Steve held him back, finally ending in Steve pushing Clint onto the floor at the other end of the couch before sitting down on the middle seat so that he was between them both.

“Behave.” He said, looking at Tony, though his eyes were almost sparking with suppressed humour.

“He started it.” Tony crossed his arms and slumped into the seat.

Clint opened his mouth to retaliate, but Natasha - who had since taken back her rightful seat while Clint was distracted - kicked him.

“Here,” Darcy said, passing Steve one of the bowls of popcorn she and Bruce and brought in from the kitchen, Tony immediately perked up upon finding that he had the caramel covered popcorn next to him.

“Oh, gimme.” He unashamedly reaching into the bowl and took out a large, sticky handful. As the opening music began to fill the room, Tony didn’t say anything when Steve’s thigh ended up right against his own. He remained silent when, at one point during the movie, Steve’s arm somehow appeared on the back of the couch behind him. He definitely didn’t make any noise when that arm pressed against the back of his neck, almost but not quite curling around his shoulders.

Tony was a smart man; he knew Steve would never want him like _that_. So, if circumstances happened to put them in close proximity of one another, if Steve happened to touch him occasionally by accident or without conscious thought. Well, Tony would take what he could get and be satisfied with that.

*

Breakfast had settled into something of a comfortable routine after four months.

Steve was cooking; the scent of blueberry pancakes in the air and the smell of freshly made toast along with bacon was making stomachs rumble hungrily. Tony was sitting at the table, still half asleep with a coffee cup cradled in front of him as if it held all the answers to life’s little problems within its liquid depths. Bruce was explaining something about an Asian tea to Natasha as the kettle boiled, Clint eating his usual pre-breakfast cereal while perched on his seat rather than sitting like a normal person. Thor had a small mountain of poptarts that Jane had given in and made for him while she, herself, was reading a Scientific Monthly magazine. Darcy was pulling out numerous plates from the cupboards and cutlery from the yet to be emptied dishwasher.

“Thor, it was your turn to empty the dishwasher last night.” Darcy complained, shooting the god an annoyed look, somewhat offset by the old MIT shirt she was wearing and the short sleeping shorts, her sleeping attire topped off with pink and yellow polkadot slippers on her feet.

“Forgive me, I became remiss.” Thor sent a wink towards Jane, who was so immersed in her magazine that she didn’t even notice, not that it dampened the gods’ sunny grin.

“Yeah, well, while you two were getting your godlike freak on, some of us are left having to pick out kitchenware from a rack rather than a draw.” She rolled her eyes.

“Can we not talk about that at the kitchen table?” Steve asked, ears slightly pink as he stared determinedly at the frying pan before him.

“Don’t be jealous, Captain Handsome, I’m sure someone will get their freak on with you soon enough.” Darcy winked at him, causing him to splutter and almost drop the pancake in the pan onto the stovetop.

“Darcy, stop sexually harassing a national icon.” Tony yawned, halfheartedly listening to the conversation going on around him.

“You’re just jealous.” She said; her voice amused as she put the plates and utensils on the table.

“Not exactly the word I was thinking of.” Tony mumbled before taking a sip of his coffee.

“Can we please change the subject?” Steve asked, finishing up and brining over a plate stacked high with pancakes.

“Sir, Director Fury is on the line for you.” Jarvis broke over the noise of chewing that had quickly filled the room.

“Hang up on him.” Tony said immediately, not bothering to even look up from the pancake Steve had helpfully set on his plate. He was going to end up fat if he kept eating so decadently in the mornings.

“Tony,” Steve admonished him.

“He is insisting that it is important, Sir.” Jarvis continued.

“I don’t care.” Tony shrugged, reaching out to take another sip from his coffee cup, only to find it swiped out of his hand.

“What the?” He looked beside him where Steve was now holding his coffee cup hostage.

“Answer the phone, Tony, and you’ll get your coffee back.” Steve said, voice completely serious for what was, essentially, a children’s game of keep away.

“Are you seriously holding hostage negotiations with me over my coffee cup?” He asked, some of the disbelief he was feeling clear in his voice.

Steve merely stared him down.

“I could just get up and grab another cup.” Tony said reasonably, eyes flickering to the coffee pot on the counter.

“You could,” Steve agreed, voice taking on a pleasant conversational tone. “But you won’t.”

They stared at one another for a moment before Tony groaned and banged his head upon the table top in defeat, being sure to miss the plate, less he get pancake all over his face.

“Fine, but _you_ talk to him.” He said childishly, only slightly mollified to feel Steve take his hand and wrap it around his coffee cup once more.

“Dammit, Stark, I do not have time for your issues with authority today.” Fury’s voice came out of unseen speakers and filled the kitchen.

“What can we do for you today, Director?” Steve asked pleasantly, ignoring the man’s clear irritation.

“What I need is for you Avengers to get your asses in gear and be ready to move out in an hour.”

That got everyone’s attention, even Tony forced himself into a sitting position, gulping down the rest of his coffee as he listened intently.

“What’s happening?” Steve asked, voice slipping into the slightly deeper tone he used when he was more Captain America the superhero than Steve Rogers the huge dork.

“I’m sure you’re all aware of the recent series of murders that have been getting news attention. As well as the death of Agent Millar last month.” Fury’s voice was tight at the mention of the death of one of his agents. “We’ve managed to get a lock on the killer and we’re sending you lot in to get the job done.”

“You’re sending the Avengers after a simple murderer?” Tony muttered in surprise; that was very out of character.

“What are we up against, Sir?” Natasha asked; shooting Tony a look that clearly said if he didn’t shut up, she’d make him.

“From what we’ve managed to find out, it’s a mutant who calls himself Doctor Traveller. He was previously one of the more outstanding members in the field of criminal psychology, but a nervous breakdown triggered latent mutant powers and now he’s going around screwing with people’s heads and causing innocent people to have psychotic breakdowns and serial killers to become extremely intelligent and efficient.” Fury bit out; voice tense with anger.

“Sounds like a real community supporter.” Clint said idly, body appearing relaxed and uncaring, though everyone knew it was nothing more than a front.

“We’ve tracked him heading in the direction of the Ravencroft Asylum.” Fury said, and Tony felt his stomach clench with dawning horror.

“What is this ‘Ravencroft Asylum’?” Thor asked, looking at the others for some kind of explanation.

“The Ravencroft Asylum was built to house the criminally insane, many of whom have some kind of superhuman power or ability, and most of whom are completely beyond rehabilitation.” Bruce said quietly, tense as he stared into his cup of tea.

“What do you think this Doctor Traveller aims to accomplish there?” Steve asked, voice cool and calm.

“What do you think he wants, a picnic?” Clint snorted, but Steve ignored him.

“It would appear that he aims to facilitate a mass breakout.” Fury said, confirming Tony’s fear.

“So, how do we stop him? If he’s got a power of some kind, how does it work?” Tony asked, mind already beginning to tick over with possible ways of minimizing the effectiveness of various mutant powers. Could they use power dampeners? Maybe brute force would be enough?

“He has the ability to tap into someone’s mind and extract their greatest fear, then he uses some sort of hallucinogenic to make the fear appear real to the victim. When he encounters criminals, he seems to be enhancing their intelligence, though when he looses interest in them he effectively fries their brains, leaving them in a vegetable state.”

“Great, so how do we beat him?” Clint asked.

“He wears a pendent around his neck, it is amplifying his powers. If you can get that off of him, you should be able to capture and detain him.”

Sometimes, Tony wondered if Fury _ever_ had decent knowledge of who they were going up against?

“I want the Avengers on scene within an hour.” Fury hung up.

“Right, let’s get ready then.” Steve pushed himself to his feet as the others followed suit, Thor pausing to give Jane a quick kiss.

“We’ll make something nice for when you get home.” Darcy had a slightly strained smile on her face.

“Orange cupcakes would be good.” Tony said with a grin, projecting as much confidence as he could into his voice.

“Right, Jane, we need to go shopping for oranges then.” Darcy said, Jane getting up as well with a nod, her magazine forgotten.

“Okay, Avengers Assemble.” Captain America said.

*

They didn’t make it to the Ravencroft Asylum before Doctor Traveller was able to disengage the security and break out a number of lesser criminals. The large iron gates that broke up the huge stonewall surrounding the property were hanging open, one clearly about to break off its hinges. There was screaming and shouting coming from the large building itself, the occasional noise of gunfire filling the air. The heavy, front entrance oak doors had been blasted off their hinges completely, one lying to the side of the hallway and the other in splinters over the floor.

“Okay, looks like we need to do more than just find and contain Doctor Traveller. If you find one of the patients you need to disable them securely as well. Doctor Traveller is our main priority but we can’t allow dangerous criminals to make it out into the public again.” Captain America addressed his fellow Avengers.

“Right. Remind me again why we’re the only ones here. Seeing as so many of these people are mutants, why the hell do the X-Men get to sit this one out?” Clint bitched, eyes watching the so far empty hallway.

“Hawkeye, I want you to stay outside, detain anyone who makes it past the buildings walls.” Steve ignored the complaints. “Black Widow, I want this floor covered as soon as possible, then start making your way upward. Thor, Iron Man, I want both of you starting from the top of the building and making your way downstairs. Bruce, you’re with me, we’re going to see if we can find the central security station and lock all remaining cells down. Okay, keep your comms on and alert us if you come across Doctor Traveller.”

Orders given, Tony made his way back outside with Thor and Clint.

“Right, let’s get going, Point Break.” Tony said, engaging the thrusters and shooting into the sky to the top of the building. Entering via the fire escape, Tony lost sight of Thor fairly quickly amongst the chaos within. There were papers and random objects scattered all over the floor, some of the patients were cowering in fear on the floor - those Tony ignored, if they hadn’t started acting violent yet, it was unlikely that they would start now if left alone.

Walking down a hallway, Tony turned into what looked like an office and immediately, he was assaulted with the iron smell of blood in the room. Scrunching his nose up within the suit, he looked around and spied a woman’s leg half hidden behind the overturned desk. Moving over to her, the sight before him made his stomach turn and he had to look away to prevent himself from gagging.

Recovering slightly, he steeled himself to look back.

Tony had met Doctor Ashley Kefka a few times before, had even donated money towards the construction of the Ravencroft Asylum a few years ago when she’d approached him about it. She was an incredibly intelligent psychologist who was so gifted in her field that the government had insisted upon her running the Asylum upon its completion. She was a pleasant enough woman, always eager for an intellectual conversation and she’d never once tried to psychoanalyze him despite her profession.

Now, however, her face was covered in blood, one blue eye staring up at him in frozen horror, the other entirely missing from her head. He could see bits of brain and skull through the bloody pool her eye socket had become.

“I’ve found Doctor Kafka.” He managed to get out, swallowing repeatedly to try and stave off his rolling stomach. “She’s dead, and one of her eyes’ is missing.”

He heard Natasha curse over the comm line.

“There must be retina security for some of the cells.” She said, before letting out a grunt, clearly in the middle of fighting someone.

“Keep moving, Iron Man. You must be close to Doctor Traveller.” Steve said. The, ‘because you’ve found a bloody and disgusting version of pick pocketing,’ went unsaid.

Tony moved from the room with a degree of gratitude, he hoped he didn’t stumble across more of that again anytime soon. It was surely going to be yet another thing to keep him awake at night.

He didn’t run into anyone else for a few, long minutes. The muffled sounds of screaming and yelling could still be heard, but there was an almost eerie silence descending upon where he was heading. The only clear sound he could hear was the clanking of his footsteps and the slow, measured breaths he took.

“Well, this isn’t creepy, like silence of the lambs, at all.” He said quietly, eyes looking around carefully.

“Indeed, Sir.” Jarvis answered, voice calm as usual, serving to relax Tony that little bit.

He only had the briefest warning of the hud screen before him flashing red in the corner of his eye before he was suddenly bowled off his feet and through a wall.

Groaning, Tony tried to get his bearings around him and work out what the hell had ploughed into him. Pushing a weight off of his chest, he looked down to see someone dressed in uniform - no doubt the security uniform judging by the standardized black ensemble - lying across him, body riddled with bullet holes. Shoving a lot harder and struggling to his feet so he was no longer beneath a corpse, Tony looked around him and tensed further upon seeing the man they were looking for standing in the hole he had made in the wall.

Doctor Judas Traveller was a tall man, with long, white hair and a matching handlebar moustache on his slightly wrinkled face. He wore a long, dark blue cloak over slightly darker pants and a white shirt, numerous golden chains hung around his throat and arms, while two brown belts doubled over his hips. Heavy-duty brown boots went all the way up to his knees and long gloves in a burnt orange colour hid his hands. Red eyes stared at him as if they were seeing more than just a billionaire in a tin can suit.

“Hey, guys. I’ve found our target. Top floor.” Tony said into the comms before turning his focus completely onto the man who, frankly, looked a bit like a wannabe wizard.

“Hey, did you miss the memo? The comic convention is next month, save your cosplay for then.” Tony baited, hud screen searching for weaknesses.

“You must be Anthony Stark.” The man’s voice was cool and clam, just like one would expect a psychiatrists’ voice to be.

“It’s Tony, actually. And you, dear sir, are apparently mayor of crazy town. Now that our introductions have been made, how about you give up and come quietly?” Tony offered, knowing he was just stalling but hoping against hope that Jarvis could find some kind of weakness with the man that Tony could exploit. All the hud showed right now was that there was a strange energy emanating from the pendent around the man’s neck.

“We both know that you are merely stalling, Stark. How about you let me see what keeps you awake at night?” He asked in a mild voice, the pendent between the folds of his cloak beginning to glow and making the hud screen light up again in warning.

Tony tensed, ready for whatever kind of attack the man was going to throw his way, but nothing seemed to be happening. He was just about to open his mouth and taunt the man for his lack of ability, when a funny, coldly familiar feeling suddenly started at his feet. Looking down instinctively, he could see nothing wrong with his feet encased in armour, but the feeling was rising, moving up his shin and to his knee joint. Frantically scanning the armour, he felt terror grip him as the screen before him showed his armour was quickly filling up with water.

“What the hell?” He gasped, staring at the rising water level in disbelief, it was almost at his hips now.

“Drowning in your own armour, how poetic. Are you wishing you hadn’t spent so much time making it air tight now, Mr Stark?” Doctor Traveller asked; voice tinged with amusement, but also a creepy, genuine curiosity.

Tony tried not to panic, memories of Afghanistan lurking in the back of his mind as his skin broke out in a cold sweat. He just needed to be logical about this, there was no way this was actually happening; it was completely defying the laws of every science he knew. The water had reached his chest and the frigidly cold liquid was hampering his ability to think as his heart was beating a thunderous rhythm against the Arc Reactor.

“It’s not real.” He muttered to himself, voice pitched a few octaves higher than usual, the water beginning to drip down his arms.

“Oh, yes, this is completely real.” Doctor Traveller said, voice somehow still perfectly audible over the sound of Tony’s own breathing and the occasionally chocked-off noises as his body began to betray him.

“It’s not.” Tony stubbornly tried to tell himself, the water creeping up his throat now, body shivering so uncontrollably that Tony had to clench his teeth to prevent them from chattering.

Everything came to a head when he felt the water creep up his neck, touching his mouth, causing him to breathe in sharply and choke on the water entering his lungs. With no other thought besides getting away from the water trying to drown him, Tony choked out the release code for his armour, the titanium gold alloy falling to the ground with loud clangs and leaving him in the jeans and black shirt he’d shoved on before leaving the Tower only an hour ago.

Tony coughed before gasping in oxygen, hunched over slightly as he ran his hands up and down his freezing, wet skin. Trying and failing to get his heart rate into a regulated rhythm once more. 

Arms suddenly locked around his torso, pinning his own arms to his sides and forcing him to remain still, unable to escape.

“What the fuck!” He cried out, struggling in vain as he twisted his head as far as possible to try and see who was holding him with a superhuman strength.

The man behind him had his black turtle neck shirt done up so high that it obscured most of his face, only the bridge of his nose, eyes and bald head visible. On the left of his skull a metal plate protruded from the skin, shinning in the electric lights of the room. Small, green eyes stared at him emotionlessly, as if the man had absolutely no feelings towards what was happening one way or another.

“Now, Stark, tell me: how does all of this make you feel? I’m looking to understand the minds of both the good and the bad, so your honesty is appreciated.” Traveller said, voice still as pleasant as if Tony was paying him thousands of dollars an hour to sit on his couch and natter on about his depressing childhood.

“Let me go, you asshole!” Tony tried to squirm out of the grip, but it wasn’t working. If anything, Tony found himself crushed harder against a strong chest, the feeling of numerous small cylinders in a cross shape digging into his back. God, Tony would bet his whole fortune that those were blocks of spare ammunition strapped to the guys chest.

“That’s not very nice of you, Stark. All I want is to understand.” Traveller frowned at him for a moment before a small smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “Perhaps you just need a stronger incentive?” He offered, like he was suggesting Tony have an extra piece of candy in the hopes it would make him a better-behaved child.

What the fuck had he gotten himself into this time?


	5. Deserve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm still not entirely happy with how this turned out. But, it's come to a point that I've written, and rewritten, and re-rewritten these scenes so many times that I've accepted not everything I write is going to be perfect to me. 
> 
> Sorry for the late update, I feel those words are slightly inadequate for how long I've kept everyone waiting, but they're all I've got right now. 
> 
> Finally, this is the second last chapter. There's one more, that is longer than this short one, then it's all over.  
> Here's hoping that the wait has been somewhat worth it everyone.

****It happened between one blink and the next. Tony was standing in the half destroyed room, restrained by some guy with half a metal head, the insane villain of the month threatening to invoke his magic bullshit. The next moment, it was completely different.

The room around him was suddenly neat and tidy, the standard crisp white all hospitals had surrounding him. No holes in the wall, no rubble on the ground, though there was what appeared to be a spilled tray with food on the floor around him, where his armour had once been, and there certainly wasn’t a dead security guard on the floor. Startled eyes darting around the room showed he was in some kind of bedroom, a single white bed pressed against the wall, the small window to the outside world barred off. The ridiculous outfit Traveller had been in was gone and in its place was the traditional scrubs that employees in facilities all wore. The arms around him, however, were still holding on tightly and something in him took comfort from that.

“What the fuck is going on?” Tony snapped out, trying to push down the rising panic.

Had be been transported to different dimension? Or was this the kind of illusion Fury said Traveller was capable of? If he reached out to where the hole had been in the wall, would he be able to put his hand through the seemingly solid structure?

“Mr Stark, you need to calm down.” Traveller said, voice once more calm and patient, as if Tony were a mere child misbehaving.

“What-what happened to the room? Where’s your stupid outfit gone? Where the hell is my Iron Man armour?” Tony yelled the last bit, struggling against the strong arms around him. Sadly, like last time, they didn’t budge an inch.

“Now, Mr Stark, you had another one of your episodes, do you remember? We were in the middle of a lunch time conversation when you reacted violently, throwing your food.” Traveller explained slowly.

“What? No, what the hell are you trying to pull? Let me go, Igor!” Tony snapped, trying to crane his head again to see the man holding him, only to falter slightly when he saw a perfectly normal looking man holding onto him.

“Please, Mr Stark, there is no need to resort to childish name calling. We are only here to help you. But to do so, you must allow us.” Traveller continued.

This didn’t make _sense_. What the hell was going on? One minute Tony’s in a battle with a hallucination creating wizard wanna be, the next he’s meant to be in what looked like a psychiatric hospital as a patent? That made no sense.

“This is an illusion.” He said. It was the only logical explanation for what he was seeing before him.

There was no way any of this was _real_ …

Was there?

“I can assure you, this is most definitely real, Mr Stark. The sooner you learn to accept the reality you are in, the faster we can help you get better. Just think, you’d be able to have visitors again. Your sister has agreed that once you start showing signs of lucidity and manage to abstain from any episode for longer than two months, she will once more be willing to come visit you.”

“Darcy? Wait - what have you done to her, you bastard!” Tony struggled against his captor once more, but still yielded no results.

“I haven’t done anything to your sister, Tony. You need to calm down. Perhaps, a more familiar face will help you.” Traveller trailed off slightly, a thoughtful look on his face.

“What are you-” Tony stilled when the door opened and Steve stepped into the room.

He was dressed in normal clothes, not a trace of the uniform he had been wearing just a few minutes ago present. He was clean shaven, hair neatly in place and he looked calm and relaxed.

“Steve?” The word slipped from his mouth without conscious thought, eyes trained on the man as mounting confusion filled him. He felt a wave of dizziness wash over him.

This was an illusion, that was all. He just had to hold on for the rest of his team to arrive and break it, then hopefully knock that wanna be quack on his ass.

“Tony, I hear you’re having a bad day?” Steve’s voice was calm, warm, familiar.

“What the hell is going on!” Tony yelled angrily, frustration taking over the growing terror in the back of his mind.

“Mr Stark, do you remember who Steve is?” Traveller asked, gesturing to the blond who came to a stop before him.

“Of course I know who he is, he’s Captain America.” Tony gritted out between teeth.

Disappointment downturned Steve’s mouth.

“Tony, my name is Steve Rogers, I’m one of the care-taking nurses at the Institute, remember? I’ve been working with you since you came here.” Steve took a step closer to Tony, his movements like Tony was a colt about to attempt escape.

“What?”  

“You’re at the Ravencroft Institute, Tony. Remember? You’ve been here for the last three years, ever since the accident.” Steve continued quietly, the air of someone who had repeated the same thing many time before clinging to him.

“Accident?”

“You got drunk and took one of your cars out for a drive. You hit a wet patch on the road and skidded into a tree, you only barely survived.” Steve took another step closer to him, hands raised in a placating manner.

“No, no that never happened.” Tony shook his head. What the hell was Steve talking about? He’d never been in a car accident, unless you counted that time the hum-vee’s were attacked in Afghanistan.

“Tony, we’ve been through this. You got hurt and it affected your ability to tell reality from your own imagination. Three years ago you had the accident, Obadiah replaced you as head of Stark Industries and Miss Potts hired me to help out with your care.”

“Bullshit.” Tony snapped, the arms tightening ever so slightly around him.

There was no way that betraying bastard could still be alive. Tony had essentially killed the man himself.

“Tony,” Steve’s voice softened into something almost soothing. “You were doing so well last week. We were able to go outside and sit on the bench for an hour. Doctor Traveller even said that you might be well enough to start having visitors again soon. Try to remember.”

“No, Steve.” Tony snarled angrily at the man behind him. “We’re the Avengers - you’re Captain America, for gods’ sake!”

“Tony, come on. Think rationally about this. Doesn’t the world you’ve created in your head not make any sense? How could you be a superhero named Iron Man, saving the world every other week? It’s cost you your sister and most of your friends. We just want to help you before you lose everything.” Steve’s voice was gentle, but Tony felt his heart seize.

“What happened to Darcy?” He choked out.

“She’s fine,” Steve quickly reassured, taking another step closer to Tony. “She lives with her husband in Manhattan. But you remember what she told you? She won’t see you again until you agree to take the medication prescribed to you. It’ll help you focus on reality and make these make-believe fantasy worlds you invent stop.” Steve was standing right in front of him now, voice holding only the truth.

“No, Steve, please. You have to know who you are; you’re Captain America. We’re part of a team. Remember Clint, Natasha, Thor and Bruce. You were a soldier in the second World War, but you were frozen for decades. We saved the world from Loki only a few months ago.”

“Tony,” Steve smiled in a way that made Tony’s heart hurt. Like everything he was saying was hurting Steve. “Mr Banner is the secretary who works on the first floor, and the person you call ‘Thor’ is Doctor Donald Blake in the physical rehabilitation clinic. Clint Barton is the Institutes janitor and Miss Romanov works for Miss Potts as her PA, you met her a few years ago when Miss Potts had to come out here to get you to sign over the rest of the controlling interest in Stark Industries to Justin Hammer.” Steve explained patiently.

“Justin Hammer is an asshole who couldn’t weld two pieces of metal together with an instruction manual and someone over seeing him. Why the hell would I sign over anything to that bastard?” Tony spat.

It had to be an illusion. There was no way Tony would do something like that.

“Tony, really, that’s hardly any way to speak about your brother-in-law.” Steve chided.

Tony felt ice slip down his spine.

Suddenly, Steve reached out and took hold of Tony’s shoulder in one of his large hands. The grip was bordering on painful, but it served the purpose of getting Tony’s attention to focus on Steve’s baby blues.

“Tony, I need you to listen to me very carefully, okay? You have never been a superhero, never any kind of hero at all. You were drunk and stupid and hit a tree, which knocked the sense out of you. Your sister won’t even talk to you anymore because of your delusions and, frankly, you’re close to becoming a helpless case for me as well. There’s only so much I can do to try and help you if you’re not willing to help yourself. Maybe, if you hadn’t of been such a failure, this would never have happened.” Steve sighed, a great heaved upon sound as if Tony was a perpetual problem that he was forced to deal with.

“Now Steve,” Traveller cut in softly. “Tony can’t help it. We need to encourage him to try harder to resist his fantasy world, after all.”

“Of course, doctor.” Steve glanced behind to Traveller, the attentive look of a student learning from their teacher on his face.

“Tony, why don’t we start with you telling Doctor Traveller how you feel so we can all calm down a bit?” Steve’s voice was once more soft and encouraging.

What the hell was happening, Tony couldn’t understand how this had happened. Was it really an alternative reality, one where every single worst nightmare of his was real? This couldn’t be his world, his life.

But…

Everything looked real, he could even smell the cleaning detergent and antiseptic scents that all hospital employees smelt of coming off of Steve. Steve was definitely real and solid before him.

Maybe, maybe this was real?

It would make sense, certainly more than his current life did anyway. Tony knew he was a selfish man, and his father had been a drunk. Tony tried not to indulge too often, but what was too much these days? He could very well be a functioning alcoholic and not even realise it. He was reckless and careless too, cashing his car into a tree sounded like something he would do. Not to mention, becoming Iron Man had been like finding salvation, that was three years ago, when the accident had happened. It had seemed like too perfect of a way to make up for all the horrible things that he had done. What if it was all just a dream, something his mind had conjured up to alleviate some of the guilt he felt. He was a terrible enough person that his mind would be twisted enough to pull such a thing off.

Darcy… he had always tried to do right by his little sister. But how could she possibly be expected to be as okay and loving towards him as his mind made her out to be? It was completely rational that she would hate him, would refuse to even speak to him.

Then there was the Avengers. A superhero groups that included Tony? Who the hell was he trying to kid? There was no way in hell that such a group - even if it could actually exist - would include Tony Stark. Not after the kind of life he had led.

And Steve.

Sweet, kind, determined Steve. Even in Tony’s make-believe world the super soldier would never have looked Tonys’ way. Some things, it seemed, not even a broken, fiction creating mind could make real.

“Tony?” Blinking rapidly, Tony found himself sitting on the floor, knees folded beneath him and Steve squatting down in front of him, hands resting on his shoulders and reassurance in his beautiful, blue eyes.

“Tell Doctor Traveller how you feel.” The man urged, voice gentle in a way Tony had secretly longed to have directed at him.

It was just like Tony to do something stupid like falling for his nurse.

Looking over at Doctor Traveller, with his crisp white doctors’ coat and trustworthy old face, Tony relaxed slightly with the feeling that everything was going to be okay. It was a good idea to tell the doctor how he felt, Steve even thought so and Steve would never lead him wrong. He was only trying to help Tony, after all. If Tony told the good doctor how he felt, he might even be able to spend some more time outside with Steve again. That had been so nice, such a wonderful treat. To be able to touch the green grass and smell the soil, rather than staring down at it from his three story window with the bars to keep him safe inside.

“I feel…” He began, for some reason his tongue was hard to work, like his mouth was full of chocolate cake and he was trying to talk around it.

“Come on, Tony. You can do it.” Steve encouraged, a comforting squeeze to his sounders accompanying his words.

“I feel… lonely.” Tony finally managed to push the word from behind his teeth. “And… undeserving.”

“Oi! Asshole!”

The room around him seemed to flicker for a moment, before morphing back to the battlefield with bits of plaster dust and scattered objects all over the floor. The Iron Man armour was once more in pieces around where Tony sat, and the dead body of the security guard off to the side was surrounded by blood.

There was significantly less screaming now, but still a lot of yelling, mostly what sounded like SHIELD directions, no doubt by now they had infiltrated the bottom floors of the building after the Avengers had cleared them.

Blinking rapidly, Tony took note of Clint standing near the actual door to the room - as opposed to the large hole in the wall where Traveller was positioned - an arrow straining to be let loose on the wanna be sorcerer. Natasha stood to the right of the archer, gun raised and ready to be used at a moment's notice. Both were fully decked out in their Avengers uniforms and Traveller himself was once more in his ridiculous get-up.

“Do you mind, I was in the middle of something.” Doctor Traveller snapped, as if Clint had interrupted him while having a business lunch rather than screwing around with Tony’s mind.

Taking in a sharp breath, Tony went to push himself to his feet, only to halt when he heard the distinct sound of a gun cocking behind him, the horrible feeling of the metal barrel pushing into the back of his skull causing him to freeze.

Tony had a moment to try and get his brain to function properly, mind still sliding between what was real and what was his imagination, when a gunshot sounded and he squeezed his eyes shut, ready for the pain and oblivion to engulf him.

But it never came.

Instead, the barrel that had been against his skull was gone and a crashing sound made it clear that his would-be assassin was now on the floor. By the calm way Natasha took a step further into the room, gun now turning on Traveller, Tony was willing to bet the half metal guy behind him was dead.

“Remove your pendent and chuck it over here.” She said, voice precise and aim unwavering.

Traveller didn’t move, but Steve appearing behind Clint and Natasha, uniform dirty and shield held at the ready, distracted Tony. Thor was a second behind him, hair messed and hammer poised to strike.

“You’ve lost, Doctor Traveller. Do as the lady says.” Steve’s voice was all Captain America, no room for disagreements.

“Dear Captain, how I would like for _you_ to tell me how you feel.” Traveller looked gleeful, but Natasha appeared to be unwilling to take any chances and, moving faster than Tony’s still muddled mind could track, she moved forwards and struck him hard across the face with her gun, effectively knocking him out.

“Asshole.” She muttered, echoing Clint’s early statement.

“What the fuck just happened.” Tony managed to get out, voice strangled.

“It would appear that Doctor Traveller was able to get into your mind and use his mutant psionic powers along with the pendent amplifier to trick you into thinking you were suffering from brain damage and being kept at the Ravencroft Institute for treatment.” Natasha answered when the others looked away, bodies shifting uncomfortably.

Tony stared at them, not understanding, before a horrible realisation hit him. Just because he hadn’t been able to hear or see what was really going on, didn’t mean his teammates couldn’t hear what was being said over the comm that was still in his ear. That meant, his team had heard everything. They now knew how little he thought of himself, how little he was really worth.

They _knew_.

A headache began pounding behind his eyes and he swallowed back the urge to be sick.

*

Fury had to be an idiot if he thought he could keep Tony in medical any longer than Tony wanted to be. He stayed long enough for the doctor to say there was nothing physically wrong with him. His mental state, however, was another story.

Frankly, Tony thought the one-eyed pirate should have been grateful he’d gone at all.

“You alright, Sir?” Happy asked, looking at him in the rearview mirror of the car.

Tony glanced at him before returning to staring out the window of the small town car, Happy opting for a more discrete mode of transport as it was only Tony he was picking up.

“Just get me home, Happy.” He said softly, feeling wrung out and exhausted.

While he had some bumps and bruises, being thrown through a wall would do that to someone, it was mostly an emotional exhaustion and complete humiliation that drained him. He knew his team had all heard him, in a moment of absolute weakness, admitting insecurities that he had never, ever, spoken aloud.

They say the truth will set you free.

Tony felt more like someone had slammed a cage around him and put it on display as the freak attraction at the zoo.

Arriving at the Tower, he quietly went to the elevator, intending to go to his workshop and lock himself away for the rest of his life… or, at least, the next week or two.

However, when the doors opened, he found himself not in his workshop, but on the communal floor of the Tower. He had a moment of surprise, before panic hit him and he opened his mouth to tell Jarvis to close the doors, to take him away. Steve, however, was faster and before Tony could do more than utter a noise of protest, the man had grabbed him and pulled him from the elevator.

“What the hell?” Tony snapped, he really did seem to be saying that a lot today…

He was further surprised when he saw that they weren’t alone in the lounge, but that the rest of the Tower’s residences - minus Jane - were in the room too, none of them looking particularly pleased.

He was pushed firmly, but gently, down onto the couch and then surrounded.

“Seeing as we all know you’re not going to talk to any psychiatrists’, we’re giving you the option of talking to us about what happened today.” Steve explained.

Instantly, Tony tried to get back up and escape.

“No, no this is not happening. I do not need some emotional tete-a-tete with the superhero boy band plus the token female figure and my sister.” Tony protested, squirming when he was pushed back down unsympathetically by Natasha.

“Tony,” Darcy said, her voice worried and soft. “They told me that this Doctor Traveller guy gets into your head, makes you see things that aren’t real.” She glanced at the Avengers.

“For God's sake, I’m fine.” Tony twitched, fighting the impulse to try and escape again, knowing he’d just get shoved back down.

“Tony, you didn’t sound fine before we got there.” Clint said, frowning.

God, he’d been right. They had heard. Every pathetic, snivelling sound that had come out of his mouth. Everything the Steve of his imagination had said to him. What was he supposed to do now that they knew the truth?

“News flash, no one sounds fine when they’re fighting the bad guy of the week, incase you hadn’t noticed.” He snapped, wishing desperately that he could be anywhere else.

“Clint.” Steve said softly, stopping the archer from rising to Tony’s bait.

“Look,” Tony let out a loud breath through his nose. “I realy don’t think we need to sugar coat this, okay?” He dug his fingers into his thighs. “Just tell me flat out that you want me off the team. I can go back to solo work.” Unable to decipher the looks on their faces, Tony allowed his mouth to do what it did best and babble away, his mind not even registering the words anymore. Something about not making them all move out just because they finally knew what a royal fuck-up he was and didn’t want to deal with that shit any more.

He could just avoid them in the Tower, that wouldn’t be too hard. Sure, the kitchen on the communal floor had the best coffee maker and he might miss the team dinners and movie watching that they had done, but it wouldn’t kill him to no longer be a part of that. He was Tony Stark. As long as everyone was happy, he didn’t need anything else.

“Only you could get the idea that we would want you off the team from a psychotic madman ripping into your mind and throwing your deepest fears out into the open.” Clint growled, frustration clear in his voice.

“Tony, how could you think that we would want you to leave the team? You’re the one who gave us all a place to live, you feed us and make sure we’re happy and healthy.” Bruce said softly.

“Technically, I don’t cook.” Tony protested feebly.

“Without you as the man of iron, there is no Avengers team.” Thor said, voice just booming as usual.

“And without Tony Stark, there’d be no Stark Tower to house us all.” Natasha said, a small smile curving her lips upward.

“And without you, Tony, life would lack a lot of happiness and laughter.” Steve said gently.

“Yeah, I’d have no one to snark with.” Clint grinned at him.

“No one would instruct me on how to best procure my delicious pop tart delicacies.”

“I wouldn’t have a safe place to stay.” Bruce smiled that little, self-deprecating smile he favoured.

“I wouldn’t have so many people to look out for.” Natasha said softly, Russian accent usually thick in her voice.

“I wouldn’t have been able to adapt to the world I found myself in so well.” Steve said, honestly ringing in his voice.

“And I wouldn’t have had such a wonderful childhood, with such incredible memories of a loving brother. Hell, I wouldn’t have even known my own mother if it wasn’t for you, Tony.” Darcy said, reaching out to gently touch his arm.

His headache, which had receded slightly after arriving at SHIELD medical, came roaring back and he felt the taboo words bubble at the back of his throat. He didn’t want to say it, didn’t want to admit to the lie that had first left his lips at twelve years of age. He had sworn himself to secrecy all those year ago.

But he was tired.

He felt broken open, that the people before him were staring into the very yolk of his soul and his normal barriers and self-censoring were completely wrung dry and not kicking in.

“I’m not the great person you all seem to think I am.” He said softly, voice resigned to the exposure of the truth and the imminent resenting and abandonment of all those in the room with him.

“Tony,” Darcy began.

“No.” He cut her off, stomach twisting uncomfortably. “I lied. I’m nothing but a liar and a phoney.” He swallowed past the lump in his throat and made sure to look Darcy in the eye when he told her this, the truth he had kept hidden since she was a little girl.

“Maria Stark, the woman who gave birth to us, was a distant, cold, and entitled woman who only had children because it was the current trend and it was expected of her. She was almost worse than our Father, at least he acknowledged that he had kids.” Tony let out a bitter laugh as he looked away from her, unable to stomach seeing the shock and betrayal that was sure to cover her features.

The truth was finally exposed.

Silence filled the room, no one making a sound as Tony stared determinedly at his knees, body tense in anticipation for the yelling and crying that was about to take place. He would weather it all though. Lying to Darcy about their mother had been the momentary action of a foolish child who had wanted to give his little sister something more than he had been able to at the time. He should have been honest with her years ago, certainly well before she was an established adult and going out into the world on her own. Honestly, he should have just not answered her question, should have told her to wait until she was older, until she could understand why their mother was the way she had been. That Maria Stark was focused and determined only when it came to her social standing in the various wealthy circles in which she moved.

A slightly hysterical part of Tony marvelled that Traveller may have infact been slightly psychic with an ability to see the future, as he was sure Darcy would no longer speak to him after this.

“I know.”

Darcy’s voice had been so soft than, if it weren’t for the complete silence of the entire room, Tony would never have heard it. As it was, he couldn’t be sure that he’d heard right anyway.

“What?” He asked, looking up at her, feeling as if he couldn’t get enough oxygen into his lungs.

Darcy wasn’t screaming or crying at him. She didn’t even look upset. Instead, she had a small smile on her face, something gentle in her soft green eyes.

“I know that Maria Stark didn’t particularly care for her son, that she had hardly anything to do with him, and if asked a question about him in an interview she always got the answer wrong or had someone else fill in the blanks for her. I found out when I was fourteen; I was curious about all you said and so I Googled her.” Her smile turned slightly amused. “Needless to say, I was pretty surprised when there wasn’t one mention of any of the things you used to tell me she did with you, and would have wished to have done with me.”

“I’m so sorry.” Tony felt the words leave his lips before he had even thought out it. Over a decade's worth of worry and guilt for lying to his sister about their mother making it easy.

“For what? For giving me an image of a loving, caring mother who wanted me? For providing me with a way to take comfort from a woman I had never really met? Tony, you gave me the most incredible gift anyone has ever given me. You gave me memories of a woman who loved me and would have been proud of me. The only thing I’ve been more grateful for in my life is having you as my brother.” She moved so that she was right before him, their eyes locked, her gentle green on his confused brown.

“You are the best thing I could have ever had in my life. I got to have the most amazing childhood because you were there, doing everything you could to make me happy. You were my brother, my parental figure, and my best friend. You went to every one of my school events, you patched up all my scraped knees and you always, always, always had time for me. You gave me the most incredible memories and sense of being loved and cherished, all without ever asking for anything in return. And I,” her eyes suddenly grew wet.

“I don’t think I’ve ever thanked you for that.” She whispered.

“But, I didn’t,” Tony didn’t know what he was going to say, his voice lost and his throat too tight to get anything except a slightly whistling breath through.

Darcy pulled back suddenly with a shaking inhale of breath, choking on a small laugh. Moving quickly to the coffee table, she picked up something wrapped in fabric that he vaguely recognised as being the jumper she had favoured when she’d been about twelve. Moving back over to him, she gave a shaky smile as she held it out to him.

“So, thank you, big brother. For making my life amazing. Thank you, Tony, for being the incredible person that you are. We don’t say it enough, but you are so loved by me, and Pepper, and Rhodey. And now you have a new family, one that loves you and accepts you and any faults you think you have, unconditionally.” Darcy said softly.

Took took the object on autopilot, mind reeling at the words she was saying, at the honest looks of truth on everyone's faces, no matter which one he looked at. They all said the same thing.

They wanted him there.

They loved him.

He _mattered_.

Focusing on the bundled object now sitting on his lap so he didn’t have to look at their faces, his emotions bubbling dangerously close to the surface in what he was horrified to realise were tears of happiness, he took a rattling breath and pulled apart the cloth.

_It can’t be…_

Staring down at the twisted bits of metal in his lap, Tony lost the battle with his tears.

It was just as he remembered seeing it last. The ear was bent and the tailed snapped off, long gone by now. The curve of the metal he’s spent hours working over formed the creatures body and the bulky jaw still stuck out, slightly too big for the size of the head. The small dings in the metal where it had crashed into the wall all those years ago were still there, and the camera lens in one of the eyes was cracked.

Despite the terrible shape it was in, it was undeniably Sparky the robodog.

“How?” He managed to get out, voice rough like he’d been yelling.

“Jarvis brought him up to my room after, well.” She pursed her lips, the unpleasant memories apparently still recalled.

“You were only seven, I thought you’d forgotten about it.” Tony admitted, fingers running over the mechanical dog's body, finding small nicks and scrapes that his mind immediately started working on ways to fix.

“You built me a robotic dog, that’s only the coolest thing I’d ever seen before.” She grinned.

“But,” he swallowed, needing to get the words out no matter how painful. “But it wasn’t any good. It was nothing but a failed project. The specs for it were rushed, it’s jaw is wrong and it didn’t have any audio features. The camera had limited capabilities and it could only sit or stand, not even walk.” He rambled off the problems with it, taking a breath to continue when she cut him off.

“Tony, did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, I liked him just fine. That the things you see wrong with him, I see as quirks and I appreciate and adore him even now because of them.”

Okay, Tony was a genius. He could see what she wasn’t saying. In the mad universe the they lived in where the people in this room loved and appreciated their own version of the robodog - him.

“Do you understand now?” Steve asked softly, breaking Tony out of his reflective thoughts, fingers still running over Sparky in his lap.

“You are so important to me, to _us_ , that no matter what you think, or what some psycho mutant may want you to think, we like you, just the way you are. You’re not alone, Tony; and you are extremely deserving.” Steve emphasised his last words by reaching out and taking Tony’s hand within his, giving it a gentle squeeze.

Unable to get the words he wanted, Tony nodded one sharp, hard bop of his head. As if someone had suddenly released the valve on the pressure in the room, everyone relaxed.

Tony didn’t completely believe what they were all saying, but he didn’t completely disbelieve it either.

It was a start. 

 


	6. The Scent of Jasmine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is it people, the final chapter.

Apart from the appearance of food in his workshop three times a day, Tony was left mostly to his own devices for the next four days. He would have been more comfortable with being left completely alone in a locked down lab after his break down in front of almost all the people who were important to him, for the rest of his life.

But that was apparently an overreaction.

On the evening of the fourth day, Tony was pulled from fiddling with an upgraded code for the camera software on the newest StarkPhone by the music in his workshop abruptly cutting off. Lifting his head in surprise, he blinked a few times to adjust to looking at something other than codes and schematics, only to tense upon seeing Steve heading right for him across the room.

“We’re watching a movie tonight,” he said, coming to a stop only feet from where Tony was sitting on his stool.

Tony was pretty sure Steve wasn’t trying to be intimidating, but the significant difference in their heights while Tony was seated and Steve standing at his just over 6ft, was causing the genius to tense further.

Steve leaned his hip against the worktable Tony was sitting at, crossing his arms loosely over his chest and projecting the air of casual so deliberately that it was obvious he was nervous.

“We’d really like it if you would join us. We’re apparently watching some newly released movie that Darcy’s been going on about. Something to do with singing groups, I think?” Steve looked adorably confused for a moment before he smiled shyly at Tony once more.

“I’m kind of busy.” Tony hedged, the idea of facing everyone at once not in the least appealing.

To his surprise, Steve actually smiled a little broader at that.

“Darcy said that if you refuse she’ll make Jarvis play a movie title Magic Mike on repeat down here in the workshop until you give in. I take it, with how much you dislike magic, that’s a powerful incentive?” Steve asked, completely clueless as to the fact that the movie had nothing to do with magic, but a lot to do with the careful and elaborate removal of clothing set to a themed song.

Seriously, how did this man function in the twenty-first century sometimes?

Darcy was, however, right about it being an incentive.

“Okay, fine, just…” He reached over to the corner of the workbench where the now fully upgraded Sparky had been curled up in rest mode.

“Oh, hey, you fixed him up.” Steve said, eyes locked on the robotic dog and an almost childlike enthusiasm in his voice.

“Of course. He was pretty rough before, my first ever _real_ robot and all. I figure, Darcy’s kept him all this time, she may as well have him at his best rather than half broken and all scratched up.” Tony kept his eyes on the robot, fingers moving over the sleekly finished metal pieces now painted a shiny black, Sparky’s tail wagging as the touch sensitive software picked up on the contact.

Sparky’s metal body had been reengineered into a lightweight but hard wearing metal, the various joints piecing together to look seamless. Tony had made a new tail from scratch and hidden away all the electronics within the canine body. His camera eyes were hidden behind two small bullet proof glass lenses, painted carefully to resemble a real dog’s eyes. He was now about the size of a Pomeranian, though Tony had decided to keep the slightly too large jaw as a touch of character and a reminder of the robotic dogs origins.

“He looks incredible. Can I pat him?” Steve asked, leaning slightly into Tony’s space, eyes hopeful as they darted between Tony’s own and Sparky.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Tony moved his hands so that they were just keeping the slightly squirming puppy on his lap, pleased when Sparky let out a happy, realistic sounding yip and his tail began wagging like crazy as Steve’s huge palm ran down his back.

“He’s amazing, Tony.” Steve’s voice held a degree of awe in it that made Tony’s cheeks warm.

“He’s alright.” Tony conceded, before standing up and holding Sparky in his arms securely.

Steve just smiled at him, not in the least deterred by Tony’s lacklustre response.

“Well, let’s go up to watch this movie then. I’m pretty sure that Darcy was about to make some popcorn when I left, she might even have some of that caramel popcorn that you like so much.” The sly tone of Steve’s voice only caused the blush on Tony’s cheeks to intensify and he all but hightailed it to the elevators in an effort to give himself a few precious seconds in which to get himself under control.

If Steve noticed - and how could he not? Tony was practically a red stoplight his cheeks were so warm - he didn’t say anything. Although, the remarkably pleased air about him suggested that he had, on some level, acknowledged the effect his words had had on Tony. Tony, for his part, stared determinedly at the elevator wall as they rose in silence, Steve standing more in Tony’s personal space than out of it.

When the arrived on the communal floor and stepped out of the elevator, Tony only had long enough to glance around and take note of everyone already being there, before Darcy was in his face, her hands reaching for Sparky and a high pitch noise emitting from her throat.

“Oh my God, he’s so cute! Tony! Look at his little nose.” She gushed happily, holding the dog up and looking at him with large eyes, Sparky letting out a series of happy sounding yips, tail almost a blur with how fast it was wagging.

“He’s the handsomest robotic dog in existence!” she laughed, bringing Sparky close and hugging him.

“He’s the _only_ robotic dog in existence.” Tony corrected, feeling slightly embarrassed with how pleased Darcy was.

“Wait,” Clint suddenly said, a thoughtful look on his face from where he was leaning against the large dining table they used for dinners. “Don’t the Japanese have a robotic dog?”

Tony sent him a mildly insulted look.

“If I’d wanted a cheap knock-off I’d have bought one of them instead of making a state-of-the-ark highly advanced technological canine.”

Clint stood up straight, the familiar upward tick of his mouth indicating he was about to launch into an arguement with Tony about something stupid, again. Steve, however, seemed to notice the same thing and before the archer could get started he stepped between them, a warm hand coming to rest against Tony’s back as he was gently guided towards the couch.

“Let’s get this movie started, shall we?” He asked, voice light.

Clint muttered something that Tony couldn’t catch, but Natasha smacked him up the back of his head for whatever it was as she breezily passed him by, popcorn in hand.

The seating arrangements for their movie viewing were the same as last time, with Thor and Jane once again claiming the double couch, and Natasha contorting into what Tony was positive was a highly uncomfortable position on the single chair. Bruce calmly took the floor while Clint bitched and moaned that it wasn’t fair that he always ended up on the floor, the rest of the room ignored his complaints completely, and Darcy, Steve and Tony sat on the three seater couch. Only this time, Darcy claimed Tony’s usual corner, leaving him with no choice but to sit between his sister and the man who seemed determined to invade his personal space.

It started out innocently enough, Steve had taken one of the caramel popcorn bowls so that it sat in his lap and was kindly sharing it with Tony. The movie was only ten minutes in when, as Tony was reaching into the bowl to get another handful of sticky, sweet goodness, he realised that the bowl was already occupied. He pulled his hand back instinctively, so fast that he jolted away from Steve and knocked into Darcy, who hissed at him to be careful with the elbows.

Tony managed to calm his pounding heart and once more immerse himself in the mindless chick flick. It wasn’t until, half an hour later when Steve laughed at a particularly amusing moment within the movie, that Tony realised the Captain had, at some point, moved closer to him so that they were now pressed together from shoulder to knee.

He tried not to think too much about it and a guilty part in the back of his mind relished the warmth that Steve gave off, his super serum enhanced metabolism causing him to run a few degrees warmer than the average person.

Despite everything, Tony felt himself beginning to drift off as the characters on screen had their ‘we’re having our epic fight/misunderstanding that will only be resolved by admitting our crazy love for one another and either expressing that through teeth-rottingly sweet moments or crazy, crazy hot monkey sex'.

It was hardly his fault, really. He’s been so emotionally out of whack since The Talk - capitals most definitely needed - that all he could do was lose himself in his wok and let his emotions reestablish an equilibrium subconsciously in the back of his mind. Then, when he had eventually fallen asleep, his dreams were plagued with nightmares, reliving the feeling of the water filling up his suit as Steve told him he was worthless and that he had imagined becoming Iron Man and the whole Avengers team. Needless to say, Tony hadn’t been able to sleep much after that.

But sitting here on a comfy couch, warm thanks to the live fernus beside him and senses dulled by the drone of the television and the occasional murmur or ripple of laughter. Tony felt… safe.

He wasn’t entirely sure how long he was out of it for, but the world was fuzzy around the edges and he was so comfortable that the idea of opening his eyes didn’t even merit thinking about . He was pretty sure that someone said something, then there was a reply which sounded deeper and oddly rumbly, but Tony was content to tune them out as he relaxed into his pillow.

*

Tony became aware slowly and naturally. No nightmares jolting him back to consciousness or loud noises pulling him from much needed sleep. The first thing he felt was how nice and warm he was, the second was that he was leaning against something rather than lying down. The third thing he noticed was that his comfy pillow was most certainly rising and falling in a deep, steady rhythm.

Cracking open his eyes, it took a moment for them to focus before he was able to make out the tv playing some old sci-fi movie from the seventies, the screen the only light within the room, and the dark blue of his pillow. The very familiar dark blue that he was almost 100% sure matched the colour of the shirt Steve had been wearing when he’d come down to get Tony from the workshop earlier.

Breathing in a deep breath, he moved in order to lever himself upright, but paused in surprise when he realised that a large, warm hand had been slowly rubbing up and down his back in a manner that was unbelievably soothing

“Hey,” Steve’s voice was as soft and warm as the atmosphere around them.

Tony looked up from his half levered position, realising that the rest of the rooms occupants had since left, leaving him to stretch out on the couch where Darcy had been. Steve had turned slightly so that he was slumped against the far armrest, allowing for Tony to lay across his chest.

“Uh, sorry.” Tony muttered, pushing himself all the way up so that there was some space between the two and he wasn’t plastered to Steve like a limpet.

“It’s okay. You looked like you could do with the sleep.” Steve smiled at him.

“Yeah,” he agreed vaguely. “What time is it?”

“A little after two. The others headed to bed a few hours ago, but I wasn’t particularly tired yet.” Steve shrugged slightly.

“Oh. I hope you didn’t stay up because I was, you know,” he made a tilting gesture with his hand to convey ‘using you as my personal pillow’. “You could have just pushed me off. You didn’t have to, like, stay and let me potentially drool on you.” Tony chuckled awkwardly, relief filling him as he realised that, no, he hadn’t drooled on Captain America, the people’s hero. Thank god.

“I don’t mind.” Steve insisted, cheeks turning slightly pink in the light of the TV screen.

“I mean, it’s just…” Steve sighed and sat up properly, a hand running through his hair in frustration. Then he seemed to gather himself; he licked his lips and looked over to Tony, eyes locking and voice serious if slightly rushed.

“Tony, would you like to get coffee with me, sometime, maybe?”

Tony stared at him, dumbfounded, for a moment before the meaning of his words managed to penetrate his mind.

“Like, coffee, coffee, or _coffee_ , coffee?”

Steve blinked before he began to chuckle, the nervousness fading from his face.

“I’m asking you if you’d like to do what, apparently, all modern people do when they ask someone if they’d like to get coffee some time as a precursor to a date.”

Tony stared at him some more, mind stuck on the idea of _coffee,_ coffee with Steve.

“Tony?” Steve asked after a long stretch of silence, the smile dropping from his face and disappointment beginning to creep over it instead.

“We don’t have to, if you’re not inter-”

“Yes!” Tony blurted out in what must have been the most awkward response to a date offer he’d ever come up with. Seriously, he’d had more game when he was fifteen and asking out university students and getting to third base than he did right now at thirty, sitting on the couch in his home with the literal man of his dreams asking him out. What on earth was it about Steve Rogers that managed to turn him into a bumbling idiot?

Steve didn’t appear dissuaded by Tony’s slightly alarming eagerness, instead the large grin that never failed to make Tony’s stomach flop burst over his face and his eyes glowed in the off colour light.

“Really? That’s-that’s great.” Steve said, voice pleased.

“Yeah, uh, great.” Tony parroted back like an idiot.

_Stupid, stupid._

He clearly needed to retreat in order to stop making a complete fool of himself.

“So, I’m going to head to bed.” He stood up and began edging towards the elevators.

“Okay, so, coffee tomorrow then? If you’re not too busy?” Steve asked, looking over the back of the couch hopefully.

“Yeah, yep, sure. So, like, after breakfast or something?” Tony continued edging away.

“Yeah,” Steve’s smile softened. “After breakfast or something.”

Tony nodded, stepping backwards into the elevator and managing to hit his elbow against the metal doors.

“I’m fine!” He said quickly when he saw Steve standing up in concern. “After breakfast or something.”

Final words said, the door shut. Tony waited until the elevator had started moving before covering his face with a hand.

“Ow.”

*

Tony almost skipped breakfast.

Darcy, who apparently knew him better than he’d ever realised, intercepted him on his way to his workshop and all but frog-marched him to the communal level of the Tower and thus the kitchen. Where everyone else was. All eating and chatting like every morning, but with the occasional sly, pointed look directed at either Tony or Steve.

He supposed he should be grateful to Darcy or Natasha, or possibly both - you could never quite tell in these kinds of situations - that they had clearly threatened the others that if they made any comments about Steve and Tony’s impending plans to get coffee - _coffee,_ coffee, that is - that they’d no doubt be met with some kind of bodily harm.

It didn’t stop them, however, from maneuvering it so that Steve ended up seated next to Tony. It also didn’t prevent Steve, when his leg accidentally knocked against Tony’s under the table, from resting it firmly there.

Tony kept most of his attention on his coffee and ate less than usual, nerves making him lose his already precarious morning appetite.

Before he was entirely ready for it, breakfast was over, the Tower’s various residences departing as they apparently had things to do and places to go. Tony was left sitting at the table to finish his coffee, Steve clearing the plates and breakfast leftovers, one to the dishwasher and the other packed and sealed in the fridge. This happened in silence, though Tony could admit that it wasn’t so much awkward as it was charged with a mixture of anticipation, nervousness and excitement.

He had managed to lose himself in the dregs of his coffee, wondering if he could be bothered to get up and get another cup, when a gentle hand fell on the back of his chair and Steve’s familiar cologne filled his senses. Looking up, Steve was half leaning down towards him, an amused smile on his face as if he had been able to hear Tony’s coffee contemplations.

“Hey, I was wondering if you’d like to head out for that coffee now? I know you’ve only had two cups so you still need a bit more of a fix.”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Sure, let’s go.” Tony nodded, moving to get up as Steve stepped back to give him room.

The two made their way to the elevator and down to the ground level of the Tower in silence. Walking up the street amid the hustle and bustle of New York as if they were any other duo about to have what could potentially be the first of many dates. Tony had half expected Steve to head towards the nearest Starbucks, so he was pleasantly surprised when he was gently guided down a quieter side street, that broad palm once more upon the small of his back. They halted before a relatively quiet looking cafe.

“How’d you find this?” Tony asked as they stepped inside, the small bell above the door letting out a pleasant chime to announce their entrance.

“I got turned around on one of my runs, went down a street too early, and found this place. I’ve been here a couple of times, but apart from some shock the first time, they basically leave me to my own devices.” Steve said with a small smile. Tony nodded, understanding that being as famous as they were, sometimes just having a place they could go, where no one asked you for an autograph, or a picture, or to regale them with stories of what you’d done in recent battles, it was a life line. It was the only way they could pretend that they were just ordinary people, doing something extraordinary. Something that Tony knew Steve valued greatly.

“It looks nice.” Tony said honestly, eyes tracking over the simple but clean wooden table tops with square chairs, each table holding a small vase that held three fresh flowers in various colours, no doubt picked that very morning. There was a small selection of baked goods in the cabinet at the back of the store beside an old fashion looking register.

“Would you like to look at the menu, or just have your usual coffee?” Steve asked, smiling at him.

It was then that Tony realised with a bit of a jolt, that Steve was going to pay for his drink. He didn’t think he could remember the last time a date had paid for anything for him, and mostly with good reason. He wasn’t a billionaire just so he could have other people pay for things for him.

“Uh, I’ll just have my coffee, here, I’ll give you some money.” He reached into his back pocket for his wallet, but Steve grabbed his arm and held it still.

“No, it’s okay. Let me pay, please.” Steve insisted, blue eyes intent.

Tony raised an eyebrow.

“Steve, I have so much money I’m not even sure what the total is anymore. I’m happy to pay for whatever we get here, it’s nothing to me.” He said slowly, spelling it out.

“I’m sure that it’s nothing to you, but for that very same reason I want to pay. Please, let me. Call it old fashion charm or something if it makes you feel better.” Steve smiled boyishly, and Tony was pretty sure the man was beginning to figure out that Tony’s brain basically turned to mush every time he saw that smile and would happily let Steve do whatever he wanted. No one could ever call Steve Rogers slow on the uptake.

“Okay,” Tony agreed, arm falling to his side. “I guess I’ll pick a table?” He offered, feeling the need to do something.

“Sure, be back in a moment.” Steve grinned, heading towards the counter where a chirpy looking girl, no older than Darcy, greeted him by name and with an enthusiastic smile.

Sitting down at one of the back tables, just incase someone did see them and think to approach, Tony fiddled with the small packet of sugar that was sitting in a metal container besides the flower vase. He hadn’t felt this nervous about a date in his life, even when he’d had that first date with Rumiko Fujikawa, who he’d thought himself crazy for when he was sixteen and rebelling against his father by dating a business rivals daughter. That particular relationship had crashed and burned due to their differing priorities in life and Rumiko’s inability to understand why Tony always put Darcy first.

“Here you go.”

Brought out of his dark musings about failed relationships, Tony looked up to see Steve setting down a coffee cup in front of him. Reaching for it immediately, he breathed in the familiar scent of coffee beans and boiled water, with just a hint of milk and sugar, before taking a sip and enjoying the familiar burn as it slid down his throat.

“That’s good.” Tony hummed, eyes slipping closed in happiness and dark thoughts fading in the face of perfection.

“Are you sure you don’t want to be here on a date with your coffee cup?” Steve asked, causing Tony’s eyes to snap open in a brief moment of panic, worried that Steve might be annoyed by his preoccupation with the beverage. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time someone was ignored because coffee was involved, but Tony wanted to do this right, dammit, so maybe he’d have to cut back on the coffee drinking about Steve. He could do that, couldn’t he? He’d just have to indulge himself in private where Steve couldn’t see him.

The look on Steve’s face, however, made him relax slightly, though confusion filled him all the same. The soldier looked more affectionately amused than irritated, that familiar small smile quirking his lips upwards, his chin resting on a palm. There was some ridiculous looking sugary drink in front of him, as well as a plate with two scones, jam and cream in little dishes beside it.

“Coffee is sacred.” Tony tried for joking, but he was pretty sure it came off as a question rather than a statement of fact.

“I’m surprised you don’t own a coffee factory or something.” Steve said, still smiling.

“Pepper said no.” Tony offered as an explanation, a frown crossing his face even years after the refusal. Owning a coffee factory would have been awesome.

Steve laughed.

That seemed to break whatever tension was hanging between them, and the two were suddenly able to relax and enjoy one another's company as conversation flowed freely.

Before Tony knew it, hours had passed along with numerous coffee cups and plates of baked goods from the front counter. He was laughing at a story Steve was telling, about how he’d attempted to go for a jog in central park during lunch time and ended up somehow amongst a flock of irate pigeons when trying to flee all the fans, when his phone’s incessant buzzing in his pocket distracted him.

Tony sighed, exasperated.

“Darcy’s checking up on me.” He groaned to Steve, putting on a mock offended look  when the other man merely chuckled at him.

“She just wants to make sure you’re having fun. She worries about you, you know.”

Tony eyed him suspiciously, puzzle pieces he wasn’t even aware of before, now beginning to click together in his mind.

“I’m sure she does.” He began slowly. “Though I’m beginning to think you spend a lot more time with Darcy than I had thought.”

Steve didn’t even attempt to lie.

“Darcy and I get along well, we have many, what did she call it?” He looked thoughtful for a moment before snapping his fingers. “Gossip sessions.” He said the words with the air of one who didn’t quite know the true meaning, but had been repeatedly told that they applied.

“Oh my god, Steve, do you sit there and braid each others hair and do one another nails while gossiping about the boys you like or something?” Amusement swept through him, the image of the duo in that position almost making him laugh out loud.

“Don’t pretend like you’ve never had her give you a manicure, because I’ve seen the pictures.” Steve shot back with a slightly arrogant tilt of his head.

Tony spluttered.

“I told her to delete those pictures!”

“Clearly she listens about as well as you do.” Steve said dryly.

Tony just huffed, more amused with a tinge of embarrassment than truly bothered. Besides, Darcy _did_ do an amazing job on his nails.

“Apparently Clint is going to attempt to cook pizza for lunch.” Tony read to Steve, looking up to see the amusement in his blue eyes.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to miss out on that entertainment.” Steve offered, pushing away his empty cup and moving to stand.

Tony grinned and stood himself, stretching slightly before following Steve to the counter, offering a token protest once more about paying for their coffee and food, only to be shushed before they headed outside once more in the direction of the Tower.

If Steve kissed his cheek and quietly said in his ear: “I had a really great time, let’s do this again soon, yeah?” just before they got off of the elevator.

Well. Tony could always claim the flush to his cheeks was from anger once he saw the half burned state of the kitchen.

*

Dating Steve Rogers, it turned out, was actually pretty easy.

Tony was used to mostly assertive partners whose main goal was to get into Tony’s bed and then out of it just as fast. Steve was most definitely _not_ like that though. Steve was morning kisses on the top of his head as Tony tried not to drown himself in his coffee cup. He was gentle hands to the small of Tony’s back when they were going somewhere, not pushing him a certain way but encouraging and reassuring Tony with his presence. He was large smiles and deep rumbling laughter that always made Tony feel warm inside. It was snuggling on the couch while watching tv - to the point where Darcy had bought herself a bean bag off the Internet that had little dancing Hulk's on it, and abandoned the duo to the three seater couch - while fighting off Clint when he realised her solution to not sitting on the floor and tried to steal said bean bag. He was holding hands on top of the table while they were having dinner with the team and a steady shield when the teasing started. Dating Steve was small, affectionate bushes of lips against lips which devolved quickly into passionate make out sessions and shy touches.

It was… incredible.

Of course, being sickeningly romantic wasn’t all they did - Clint’s choice of words, not Tony’s. Life continued on outside and their happy little bubble burst three weeks after their first date.

They were called out into battle with a mad man in a green cloak with a metal mask who called himself _Doctor Doom_ , and seriously, if the bad guys were going to give themselves self appointed titles couldn’t they think of something better and less cliché? They’d mostly only heard about Doom from SHEILD reports and what they’d seen on the news, never having had to battle him themselves before.

“Since the Fantastic Four have gone AWOL this week, it’s fallen to us to play clean up.” Clint explained as he flew the Quinjet to Kentucky, where Doom had decided he would take over the world - and seriously, _Kentucky?_

“I hate cleaning up other people’s messes.” Tony sighed from where he was sitting in one of the seats in his armour, helmet resting on his lap. Usually he would have flown ahead to take stock of the situation, but Steve had argued that they’d present a stronger force by arriving together. Tony had argued back, but then Steve had given him one of those sad-eyed looks and said that he’d just wanted Tony to be safe and, well, Tony really needed to sit down and have a strongly worded talk with Steve about emotional manipulation of one’s boyfriend and how bad it was that he was doing it… Eventually.

“I quite look forward to the battle, my brothers and sister in arms.” Thor said loudly, hammer already in hand from where he peered out a small side window.

“Focus, everyone. We have a job to do.” Steve said, voice not quite the tone of Captain America just yet, a little bit too much amusement filling it.

“I’ll focus when I can go home.” Tony muttered, leaning back in his chair with a huff. He’d had plans today, important plans that had involved a lot of inventing and making out with his boyfriend on the couch in his workshop.

Steve sent him a knowing smile, and Tony really had to reevaluate his idea of Steve being some kind of mind reader because seriously, every time?

“Hey, guys, I think we’ve got more than just Doom out here.” Clint said, gaining the attention of his fellow Avengers from where he was squinting down at the radar image.

“It appears that Doom has an army of those Doom bots he enjoys making.” Natasha leaned closer to the radar image.

“Oh god. They’re a disgrace to the scientific community." Tony hated those things. He had seen one up close when wandering around the Helicarrier once, apparently it had been appropriated after a battle with the Fantastic Four at some point. It was poorly made and clearly worked off of a hive mind. Seriously, Tony could have made something much better than that in his sleep.

"I'm not offended." Bruce said mildly from where he sat across from Tony. 

"You should be offended by proxy of being my Science Bro." Tony waved a hand dismissively. Bruce would totally be offended if he'd had the same scientific background as Tony. 

“Well, if they’re so bad, let’s just go in, wipe them out quickly, and then we can be back home in time for dinner.” Steve said, pulling on his cowl and adjusting his grip on the shield. Tony sent him a grin.

“With pleasure.” He said, putting on the helmet and focusing on the hud screen before him.

Clint landed the Quintjet minutes later and the Avengers, as one, attacked.

*

Apparently, dating Steve, aka Captain America, aka the leader of the Avengers, now meant that Tony had no way of escaping the debriefings after battles. He didn’t appreciate having to sit for hours in a room with Fury as the man nitpicked his way through the entirety of the battle. If the man had such a problem with how the Avengers went about their business of kicking ass and taking names, then he should go out and fight the bad guys himself.

The small, pleased smile on Steve’s lips when Tony stayed for the entirety of the debrief (snarking his way throughout, he would never be the poster child for well behaved) almost made up for the hours of his life he’s never be able to get back.

Almost.

*

It seemed that Darcy waking him up and dragging him out of bed and into the elevator was becoming a thing.

Tony was not a fan.

In fact, he was tempted to push her out of the elevator when they arrived on the communal floor and then escape down to the workshop where he could lock her out and get some more sleep.

It was only Steve standing by the elevator doors when they opened that prevented such a thing from happening. Steve may or may not have been the only acceptable reason to be awake that early after only two hours of sleep.

“What’s going on?” Tony yawned, stretching his arms over his head as he was directed towards the kitchen.

“I have a surprise for you.” Steve said, body practically vibrating with anticipation.

“A surprise.” Tony echoed, suddenly much more awake and cautious. Tony didn’t really have much to do with surprises directed towards him, and the few he had encountered tended to be the ones that almost killed him, like Stane selling him out to the Ten Rings and SHIELD actually being useful when it came to preventing Tony’s death via Paddaladium poisoning. So, not a very good frame of reference, really. Darcy's surprise of the Bots a few months ago was the only wholly good surprise that came to mind. 

“It’s a good surprise, I think.” Steve said, voice full of reassurance, if slightly tinged with nerves.

Giving a small nod, Tony allowed the man to take his hand and lead him further towards the kitchen. Tony was actually surprised to note that the floor appeared to be empty apart from the three of them. He supposed that was mostly due to the early hour, the sun only just creeping over the city's buildings to shine through the Tower's windows. 

“I want it noted that I don’t approve of you two being best buddies and ganging up on me.” He said, glancing between Darcy behind him and Steve in front of him.

“Noted.” Steve said with amusement as Darcy merely rolled her eyes.

They were just about to walk into the kitchen when a smell hit Tony’s nose, confusing him.

_Jasmine?_

“Here,” Steve said with a flourish of his free hand in the direction of a small, potted plant sitting on the previously empty corner of the kitchen, beside the cabinet containing pots and pans.

“It’s a plant.” Tony said stupidly, staring at the leafy bush in confusion.

Tony and plants were not a great combination. There was a reason all of Tony’s creations were self-sufficient and didn’t require actual feeding and looking after.

“It’s a coffee bean plant.” Steve explained.

“Why is there a plant in the kitchen?” Tony asked, mind stuck on the foreign sight.

“I thought…” Steve started, now looking embarrassed and like he was backtracking, the hand leaving Tony’s and moving to run through his hair, blue eyes darting to the side.

“I know you really like coffee, so I thought we could grow some beans and make them into coffee for you.”

Staring at the pink face of his boyfriend, Tony knew he was so screwed. Completely, irrevocably and utterly screwed. The man was the personification of perfection and, luckily for Tony, all his.

_I think I love you._

The thought curled through the back of his mind and took up residence with other established facts like the grass was green, Darcy baked the best cakes and P=IxV=RxI^2=V62/R. Before Tony could fight it, the thought was nestled deep in his mind and his heart gave a thump that felt harder than any before it.

He didn’t, however, say that.

He wasn’t _that_ brave.

“ _We?_ ” He asked instead, looking over at Steve with a small smile beginning to lift his lips.

“Well, you wouldn’t remember to water it if you were left to your own devices.” Steve said, not the least worried about offending Tony and with his own answering smile curving his lips, a fair amount of relief shining in his eyes.

Stepping into Steve’s space, he reached up and wrapped his arms around the man’s neck, using his weight to pull Steve down those precious few inches so that they were face to face.

“Thank you.” Tony whispered, before leaning forward and pressing his lips to Steve’s in a chaste kiss. Strong arms came around his waist and pulled him so that their bodies were pressed together.

“I’m glad you like your surprise.” Steve replied once they’d pulled apart, voice just as soft and a gentle smile gracing his lips.

“Hello, still in the room with you.” Darcy’s voice was loud and cut through the moment, causing Tony to groan and bury his face in Steve’ chest as the blond chuckled.

“I’ll start making breakfast then, any preferences?” Steve offered, and just like that, time continued moving.

Tony found himself deposited at the kitchen table as Darcy helped Steve begin a breakfast of waffles and fruit salad, a cup of coffee was placed on the table with a quick kiss to keep Tony happy. As the sun rose further into the sky, the other members of the Tower began to find their way to the kitchen. Jane looked like she’d pulled an all nighter from the way she leaned heavily against Thor’s shoulder, her own cup of coffee cradled in her hands and a streak of pen smudged on her cheek. Thor was being surprisingly considerate of her tried state and was regaling Bruce with a story of a magical display his mother had put on for him as a child with minimal gesturing. Bruce sat listening with interest, his cup of tea steaming before him and fogging up his glasses with each sip, causing the doctor to pull them off periodically and clean them on the bottom of his shirt. Natasha had acquired a newspaper and was doing the crossword puzzle, while Clint held a small pingpong ball - who knew where the hell he’d found it - and was playing fetch with Sparky from his perch on one of the small island stools.

Despite the obvious addition of flora in the room, not one person remarked upon the small coffee tree sitting in the corner, it’s white flowers emitting a gentle scent of jasmine that was currently being overpowered by the familiar breakfast smells.

It was all horribly domestic.

Tony wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all she wrote.  
> Thanks for everyone whose stuck with me throughout the year-long posting of this monster. I can't believe what started out as just an idea of Darcy and Tony being related turned into 60k+ words. Overall I really love this story and, perhaps at a later date, I'll explore more of what happens next.  
> For now, however, this piece is done. I'll probably be fixing a few minor errors in spelling/grammar over the next few days but apart from that all the images are (finally) uploaded and scenes completed. 
> 
> Thanks once more those who have read this till the end. I hope you enjoyed it.

**Author's Note:**

> This will probably be edited for typos as I continue posting new segments. Sorry about that but I self-beta and can only catch so much through each read through. As well as adding tags. And maybe changing the title, honestly I’ve being calling it Stark Siblings AU, so any suggestions would be fantastic as I’m awful with titles.
> 
>  
> 
> Btw, those who wish to see updates as to how this is going, or just want to talk about this verse, feel free to chat to me on my tumblr, under the same username. There’s not much there atm as it’s new, but I’m happy to talk about head-cannons and various scenes that didn’t make it into the final story. :)


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